The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday that it does not know how a laboratory worker in Siberia died and has asked Russia for more information. Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO's director of Epidemic and Pandemic Management, said the agency does not know the "causative agent" behind the woman's death on Oct. 2. "We don't understand how she was infected," she said.
The woman, reported as 28 years old, worked at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East. A state TV station in Irkutsk reported that she died in a hospital in Shelekhov, just outside Irkutsk. Authorities quarantined the hospital and began monitoring her contacts. The institute studies plague, which occurs naturally in wild animals in Siberia.
Russia's public health watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, has described the illness as pneumonia of "unknown etiology" and has not mentioned suspected plague in its reports. It said extensive testing found no evidence that the illness was caused by any pathogen the woman worked with. It also said no infectious diseases were reported among institute staff over the past 10 days, and that the situation in Irkutsk and Shelekhov is "calm." One source, the Economic Times, gave a different account, saying the woman broke a test tube containing live Yersinia pestis on Sept. 25. The other sources consulted did not confirm that claim.
About 200 people were initially quarantined, according to local media. A local official, Elena Sofina, said 60 percent had since been released and that a "dangerous diagnosis" had not been confirmed. A Russian note relayed by WHO said contact tracing and tests found "no presence of dangerous infectious disease pathogens in any of the contacts." WHO has also cited media reports of a second employee with pneumonia of undetermined cause. It did not immediately identify the source of those reports.
Van Kerkhove said WHO has put questions to Russian colleagues. "In fairness, they have responded. We've gone back with more questions," she said, adding that WHO needs regular and timely information. WHO has said the risk outside Russia is "very low." WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Russian authorities told the agency no plague case had recently been reported in the Irkutsk region.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington is watching the situation "hour by hour" and wants Russia to share more with the international community. President Donald Trump said he would discuss the matter in a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Putin's birthday. He said Russia was sharing some information and claimed the situation was under control. Asked about a possible bioweapon, he said, "We don't think so." Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said no call had been set and referred questions to Rospotrebnadzor. Russian state media have largely avoided the topic, and some outlets withdrew earlier reports.
