The World Health Organization is seeking urgent clarification from Russia after a laboratory worker died from severe pneumonia in the Siberian region of Irkutsk amid reports of a suspected pneumonic plague infection.
The worker, employed at the Irkutsk Antiplague Research Institute, was hospitalized before dying. Initial media reports linked the illness to an accidental laboratory exposure, but Russian authorities told WHO that no recent case of plague had been reported in the region.
About 200 people have reportedly been placed in quarantine. WHO said it has requested detailed information about laboratory tests conducted on the deceased worker and those under quarantine, the reasons for the public- health measures and the contacts’ current health status.
The agency is also seeking verification of reports that a second employee developed pneumonia of undetermined cause. It has offered Russia technical support on plague control and laboratory biosafety.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the organization could not yet conduct a full risk assessment because it did not have a complete picture of the incident.
“Timely, complete and transparent information sharing” is essential to resolve conflicting reports and determine the potential public-health risk, WHO said.
The remarks came as the agency also addressed several other global health emergencies.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, confirmed Ebola cases have risen to 8,665, including 4,178 deaths, although transmission is declining in some areas.
Kenya is monitoring 55 contacts after an Ebola patient who travelled from the DRC through Uganda died in Nairobi.
WHO praised Kenya’s rapid response and urged countries to avoid blanket travel and trade restrictions, arguing that screening, contact tracing and other targeted measures are more effective.
The agency also released its first guidelines on childhood and adolescent obesity, warning that prevalence has quadrupled over the past 25 years. More than 170 million young people worldwide now live with obesity.