Russia tells WHO no plague cases detected after Siberian lab worker’s death
publishers 83articles 103first reported 2 Oct, 14:24 UTCdeveloping since 2 Oct · 19 editionstop 25 #5
Russian authorities told the World Health Organization on Tuesday that no plague cases had been recorded in Irkutsk after a 28-year-old employee of an anti-plague research institute died last week from what officials described as pneumonia of undetermined origin.
The worker, identified by Russian media as Daria Shipilova, worked at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East. Media reports said she may have been exposed to *Yersinia pestis*, the bacterium that causes plague, after breaking a test tube, but Russian authorities have not confirmed either an exposure or plague as the cause of her death.
Russia’s public health watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, said no microorganisms connected to the employee’s work were found in her body. It also said testing of 60% of her identified close contacts had detected two COVID-19 infections and two rhinovirus infections, but no other infectious-disease pathogens. Nearly 200 people were reportedly placed under precautionary medical observation, and officials said none had shown signs of plague.
The WHO said Russia had reported negative tests for dangerous pathogens among the worker’s contacts. The agency was awaiting confirmation of which pneumonia-causing pathogen led to her death and has assessed the risk to the general population as low.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called for Russia to release more information, saying Washington was monitoring developments closely. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov urged the public to rely on information from Russia’s health authorities rather than rumors.
HOW THIS STORY WAS MADE
Written from 8 articles, 5 with the publisher's own text; 8 independent newsrooms once syndicated copies count as one (7 if wire copies count as one too); this version written 96 h after the record first saw the story; the editor kept it as written.
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- Given to the writer
- 8, 5 with the article's own text
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- This version written
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- kept as written
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