Tuesday, 02 January 2024 12:17 GMT

WHO Closely Monitors Russian Lab Worker Death Amid Plague Reports


(MENAFN) The World Health Organization (WHO) said Tuesday that it is "following closely" the death of a laboratory worker in Russia’s Irkutsk Oblast amid reports that pneumonic plague may have been responsible.

WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier told a briefing in Geneva that the woman died from severe pneumonia on Oct. 2, while stressing that authorities have not officially established the cause of death.

Lindmeier said Russian authorities had responded to a WHO request for information, providing an update after an earlier statement indicated that Moscow had not yet formally responded through International Health Regulations (IHR) channels.

Information supplied by Russian authorities indicated that an epidemiological investigation was launched after an employee of the Irkutsk Scientific Research Anti-Plague Institute of Siberia and the Far East was diagnosed with community-acquired pneumonia.

"The illness initially presented as a typical acute respiratory viral infection," Lindmeier said, reading from the Russian response.

"According to the test results, no pathogens of dangerous infectious diseases were detected among any of the contacts," he added.

The WHO contacted Russian authorities on Oct. 3 to request further information and offered assistance in assessing the situation.

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