WHO ‘following closely’ Russian lab worker’s death amid suspected pneumonic plague

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday it is “following closely” the death of a laboratory worker in Russia’s Irkutsk Oblast amid reports that pneumonic plague may have caused her death.

WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier told a briefing in Geneva that the woman died from severe pneumonia on Oct. 2, but no cause of death has been officially confirmed.

Lindmeier said Russian authorities had responded to the WHO’s request for information, updating an earlier statement that Moscow had not yet formally replied through International Health Regulations (IHR) channels.

According to information provided by Russian authorities, an epidemiological investigation was conducted after a case of community-acquired pneumonia was identified in an employee of the Irkutsk Scientific Research Anti-Plague Institute of Siberia and the Far East.

“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 had contacted Russian authorities on Oct. 3 seeking information and offered support.

“Based on unofficial information available, the public health risk to the general population appears to be low,” Lindmeier said.

Its initial assessment put the risk at “moderate to low” for Irkutsk, “low” for Russia overall and “very low” for the WHO European region.