The WHO has contacted Russian colleagues at the Ministry of Health "to ask very detailed questions about what tests have been conducted, what the results of these tests are, what other analyzes will be done if the cause is still unknown - added Van Kerkhove - But also about which contacts have been quarantined and what this implies. So at the moment we do not have a complete picture, what we have been told is that there is no case of plague in the area and no high-risk pathogen has been detected. Clearly we would like more information, we would like to understand what tests were done, what pathogens were evaluated and, if this person did not die from the plague, what then caused his death."
"Since we do not yet have a complete picture of the event, we are not able to carry out an exhaustive risk assessment", the director general of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, also specified in a press conference. “Timely, comprehensive and transparent sharing of information, under the International Health Regulations, is crucial to clarify conflicting reports and enable an accurate assessment of potential risks to public health,” reiterated the head of the UN health agency.
"Last Friday, October 2 - reconstructed Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus - the first news appeared in the media regarding a suspected case of pneumonic plague in a laboratory worker at the Anti-Plague Research Institute in Irkutsk, in the Russian Federation. The laboratory worker", a young woman aged 28, "died after being hospitalized for severe pneumonia. The first media reports hypothesized a case of pneumonic plague following "accidental exposure in the laboratory. WHO is aware that the Russian government held a meeting on October 2 due to suspicions that a resident of Irkutsk Oblast had contracted a dangerous infection," Tedros stressed. Then "on Saturday the WHO requested further information from the Russian Federation, in accordance with the International Health Regulations".
"Yesterday the Russian Federation responded by stating that no cases of plague have been reported recently in the Irkutsk oblast and that around 200 people who had come into contact with the subject have been quarantined - continued Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus - However, the WHO has requested further information on the laboratory tests carried out on the deceased person and on the contacts, more details on the reasons behind the public health measures adopted and information on the health status of the contacts themselves". "We also asked for confirmation of the news spread by the media regarding a second employee suffering from pneumonia of unknown origin", reiterated the director general of the WHO. Finally, "WHO offered technical support on plague and biosafety and laboratory safety."
"There is no epidemic risk for the population of Irkutsk or the Irkutsk region," the Russian public health agency, Rospotrebnadzor, said in the past few hours. To date, the agency writes on its website, "90% of contacts have completed the medical observation period. No health problems related to infections have been found and the results of almost 5,000 laboratory tests have not revealed the presence of dangerous pathogenic microorganisms". Rospotrebnadzor added that two biosafety monitoring commissions conducted an inspection of the Institute for Plague Control where the researcher worked. "No emergency situations related to the handling of pathogenic microorganisms were found - declared the agency - Adequate control over the handling of pathogenic microorganisms was confirmed".
Meanwhile, according to the Wall Street Journal citing US officials, the US State Department has urged Moscow to comply with international health reporting obligations, warning that failure to disclose details about the death of a researcher violates international health obligations. But the Kremlin denies having received pressure of this kind: "I have no information on this matter," said spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
Meanwhile, the Mongolian government announced that it had ordered the adoption of "health surveillance" measures on the border with Russia. “Although the current risk level is low, the Ministry of Health has instructed relevant agencies to take precautionary measures and maintain continuous surveillance and monitoring to prevent potential risks,” a statement said. The ministry also specifies that "border crossings in Selenge province continue to operate normally, with surveillance and health monitoring measures in place at the border".
