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Lithuania May Curb Russian Transit Over Plague Scare Report
(MENAFN) Lithuania could restrict the transit of Russian citizens through its territory if a reported case of pneumonic plague in Russia is confirmed and found to pose a threat, Health Minister Linas Kukuraitis said Wednesday.
“If we saw even the slightest threat, this issue would be raised by us, and decisions would then be made jointly,” Kukuraitis told a Lithuanian public broadcaster.
Any steps would be coordinated with the EU, he said, adding that Lithuania has response procedures in place and holds sufficient medication reserves to handle a possible outbreak.
Kukuraitis emphasized that reports of pneumonic plague in Russia have not been independently confirmed.
“It is both a worrying situation, and we would like to reassure the public,” he said.
Lithuania’s National Public Health Centre said the country currently faces no elevated risk of plague infection and that the reported case could not be independently verified.
The alarm began Friday, when reports surfaced that a 28-year-old woman employed at a plague research institute in Russia’s Irkutsk region had died of pneumonic plague. Russian officials countered that tests carried out after her death found no trace of the disease.
The World Health Organization said Tuesday that investigators were still working to determine whether pneumonic plague caused her death, and that no official cause had been confirmed. All of her contacts have been identified and are under monitoring, and none has developed symptoms, the WHO said.
In its initial assessment, the WHO rated the risk as moderate to low for Irkutsk, low for Russia overall and very low for the WHO European region.
“If we saw even the slightest threat, this issue would be raised by us, and decisions would then be made jointly,” Kukuraitis told a Lithuanian public broadcaster.
Any steps would be coordinated with the EU, he said, adding that Lithuania has response procedures in place and holds sufficient medication reserves to handle a possible outbreak.
Kukuraitis emphasized that reports of pneumonic plague in Russia have not been independently confirmed.
“It is both a worrying situation, and we would like to reassure the public,” he said.
Lithuania’s National Public Health Centre said the country currently faces no elevated risk of plague infection and that the reported case could not be independently verified.
The alarm began Friday, when reports surfaced that a 28-year-old woman employed at a plague research institute in Russia’s Irkutsk region had died of pneumonic plague. Russian officials countered that tests carried out after her death found no trace of the disease.
The World Health Organization said Tuesday that investigators were still working to determine whether pneumonic plague caused her death, and that no official cause had been confirmed. All of her contacts have been identified and are under monitoring, and none has developed symptoms, the WHO said.
In its initial assessment, the WHO rated the risk as moderate to low for Irkutsk, low for Russia overall and very low for the WHO European region.
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