Testing and monitoring is underway on suspected deaths from the outbreak in Russia

“A woman who worked in a laboratory in the Irkutsk region has died, and authorities are investigating whether a pneumonic plague caused his death,” WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier told reporters in Geneva.

He underlined that his workplace is “an institute that studies dangerous pathogensincluding epidemics, in a part of Siberia where plague occurs naturally in wild animals.”

Very contagious

Plague is caused by bacteria Yersinia pestis usually found in small mammals and their fleas.

Pneumonic plague occurs when bacteria infect the lungs. WHO noted this This form of plague infection is highly contagious and “can trigger severe epidemics through person-to-person transmission via respiratory particles.”

According to the WHO, pneumonic plague “can be fatal within 18 to 24 hours of onset if not treated, but common antibiotics for enterobacteria can cure the disease effectively if given early.”

There is no official cause of death

As of now, no cause of death has been officially confirmed and laboratory testing is reportedly underway, Lindmeier said.

Sharing with journalists a message received from Russian health authorities moments earlier on Tuesday, a WHO spokesperson said that “according to test results, no dangerous infectious disease pathogens were detected among any contacts.”

The authorities’ message indicated that the disease “initially appeared to be a typical acute respiratory viral infection.”

Explaining the chronology of events, Lindmeier said that on October 2 “the internal monitoring system captured media reports about suspected deaths from the pneumonic plague in the Irkutsk region and began monitoring the situation.”

The following day, WHO contacted Russian health authorities for further information under the International Health Regulations “to verify the event, its circumstances, ongoing laboratory tests and their results, the reasons for contact tracing and the health status of those contacts as well as potential international public health implications,” Lindmeier said.

There are no signs of spread

All of the patient’s contacts have reportedly been identified and monitored, he added, stressing that “So far, no one has shown symptoms of the disease.”

Lindmeier stated that WHO’s initial risk assessment based on available information “estimated the risks that would occur moderate to low risk for Irkutsk, low risk for the Russian Federation as a whole and very low for the WHO European region”.

He emphasized that this assessment will be updated as more information comes in.

WHO is monitoring the situation closely, working with its headquarters to keep other countries informed and is “ready to support the Russian authorities if they request it”.