Plague Siberia, Russia announces revocation of preventive measures in Irkutsk: "Quarantines concluded"

The Russian city of Irkutsk is revoking preventive measures following the death of a laboratory worker from pneumonia of unknown origin. The epidemiological situation in the region, it was explained, remains stable and does not present health risks. And all preventive quarantine measures have been concluded, regional governor Igor Kobzev said on Thursday. The interventions were started after the death of an employee of the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East, from what was defined as pneumonia of unknown origin. The 28-year-old laboratory worker, who died in the town of Shelekhov on October 2, was vaccinated and immune to the dangerous infections she worked with, Kobzev claimed.

In a statement, the Russian Federal Service for Surveillance of Consumer Rights and Human Welfare (Rospotrebnadzor) said that, as of Wednesday, more than 90% of people who had come into contact with the deceased patient had completed the medical observation period, without any health anomalies attributable to infectious diseases having been detected. Nearly 5,000 laboratory tests did not reveal the presence of dangerous pathogenic microorganisms, the note reports.

Two commissions responsible for verifying compliance with biosafety requirements also concluded that no accident occurred at the institute. Rospotrebnadzor says it has notified the case to the World Health Organization (WHO) in accordance with the International Health Regulations. After the illness was reported, complete preventive measures were promptly implemented, in compliance with current health legislation.