WHO asks the Kremlin for clarification regarding a second case of pneumonia in Russia, amid fears related to plague

The World Health Organization (WHO) has asked Russian authorities for additional information about reports that a second employee of a Siberian plague research institute is suffering from pneumonia of undetermined origin. The request seeks to clarify the source of the severe pneumonia and the pathogen that led to the adoption of public health measures.

WHO is already investigating the death of a 28-year-old researcher from the Irkutsk Institute for Combating Plague. The woman died on Friday in a hospital in Shelekhov, and reports in the media speculated that she had contracted pneumonic plague after a test tube broke.

Russian health authorities say no cases of plague have been identified among people who came into contact with the researcher. Rospotrebnadzor also denied reports that a three-week quarantine had been imposed in the Irkutsk region, saying that the epidemiological situation is stable.

According to the preliminary investigation, no microorganism associated with the victim’s professional activity was detected in her biological samples. On Tuesday, WHO assessed the risk as low for Russia and very low for Europe.