OMM Redaksiyası
The World Health Organization is closely monitoring the death of a laboratory worker in Russia’s Irkutsk Oblast amid reports that pneumonic plague may have been involved, WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier said on Tuesday.
The woman died of severe pneumonia on Oct. 2, but the cause of death has not been officially confirmed, Lindmeier told a briefing in Geneva.
Russian authorities have responded to the WHO’s request for information, he said, updating an earlier statement that Moscow had not yet formally replied through the International Health Regulations channels.
According to information from Russian authorities, an epidemiological investigation was launched after an employee of the Irkutsk Scientific Research Anti-Plague Institute of Siberia and the Far East was identified with community-acquired pneumonia.
“The illness initially presented as a typical acute respiratory viral infection,” Lindmeier said, reading from the Russian response. Tests detected no pathogens associated with dangerous infectious diseases among the woman’s contacts, he added.
The WHO contacted Russian authorities on Oct. 3 to request information and offered support. Based on unofficial information, the public health risk to the general population appeared low, Lindmeier said.
The WHO’s initial assessment rated the risk as moderate to low in Irkutsk, low for Russia overall and very low for the WHO European Region.
