2nd plague case reported
Russia warned on Wednesday against “false” information as reports emerged of a second suspected case of plague in Siberia, with Washington and Brussels calling for transparency and neighboring Mongolia tightening health surveillance.
Russian news outlet People of Baikal reported on Friday that a 28-year-old woman employed at a plague research institute in Siberia’s Irkutsk region had died of the disease, possibly after contracting it from a broken test tube.
International concern has, meanwhile, grown over the death and suspicions that a second employee at the institute fell ill.
The United States, the European Union and the World Health Organization (WHO) have all called on Russia to be transparent about the situation.
Mongolia’s government said on Wednesday that “health surveillance and monitoring measures [were] being implemented at the border” with Russia.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also urged Moscow to clarify “media reports of a second employee with pneumonia of undetermined cause” at the Irkutsk institute.
Russian authorities have played down the reports, determining the woman died of pneumonia and insisting there was no risk of an outbreak.
‘No emergencies’
Asked about reports of a second case, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters that “the vast majority of what the media is reporting regarding this situation is false information.”
People should rely solely on official statements from Russian health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor, he insisted.
President Donald Trump, asked if a “bioweapon” was involved, told reporters in the Oval Office: “We don’t think so. We’re going to find out soon enough, but we don’t think so.”
Plague is a bacterial disease that can occur in several forms, including pneumonic plague, the most contagious type, which can spread through respiratory droplets.
Bubonic plague is transmitted by infected fleas.
Pneumonic plague can be fatal if not treated early, according to the WHO.
The Russian health agency said earlier on Wednesday that it had determined “there are no epidemic risks for the population.”
International concern
It said extensive investigations had uncovered “no emergencies” and that the lab had complied with “proper control when working with pathogenic microorganisms.”
“No health disorders associated with infectious pathology were detected,” it said, adding that “the results of almost 5,000 laboratory tests did not reveal any dangerous pathogenic microorganisms.”
Those assurances have done little to quell international concern.
The United States made a formal request pressing Russia for information, a source close to the matter said on Tuesday.
European Commission spokesperson Eva Hrncirova, meanwhile, called on Wednesday for Russia to “share timely and transparent reporting” about the reported plague case.
While determining there were no epidemic risks, Rospotrebnadzor said it had implemented a set of “antiepidemic measures” as a precaution and in line with sanitary legislation.
It also stressed that it had shared information with the WHO in accordance with international health regulations.
The WHO said on Tuesday that its initial risk assessment, based on the information available, was moderate to low for the Irkutsk region, low for Russia as a whole and very low for Europe.
