Moscow: The World Health Organisation (WHO) is actively tracking the ongoing Russian plague scare and has asked the concerned health authorities to share an essential and accurate assessment of a second employee suffering from pneumonia of undetermined cause.
The US, meanwhile, has issued a Level 4 “Do Not Travel” advisory for its citizens.
WHO has also sought details of potential health risks, and public health measures being taken to keep the situation under control.
“Since the first media reports, WHO has been actively following up on the reported death of a laboratory worker at the Irkutsk Anti-plague Research Institute in Irkutsk oblast, Russian Federation,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general, WHO, said in a long post on X.
The cause of death is suspected to be pneumonic plague.
The 28-year-old researcher, Darya Shipilova, working at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute, is suspected to be exposed to Yersinia pestis, the bacterium that causes plague. The Russian authorities have not confirmed plague as the cause of her death till now though.
The exact origin of pneumonia remains unknown, Russian agency Rospotrebnadzor, which handles infectious diseases, has maintained.
“It is unclear what was released, according to the agency,” CNN reported. Meanwhile, they have said that the sanitary and epidemiological situation in the Irkutsk region is stable.
Health authorities quarantined around 200 people she was in contact with as a precautionary measure. A few people who came in contact with Shipilova have tested positive for COVID-19 and rhinovirus, the country’s sanitary watchdog said.
“Laboratory tests have confirmed two Covid-19 and two rhinovirus infection cases,” it said, adding that no other infectious disease pathogens were detected in any of the contacts.
The Russian health authorities reported that no case of plague has been registered in Irkutsk oblast, Ghebreyesus further mentioned.
They informed WHO that an epidemiological investigation had been conducted, preventive and control measures implemented, and identified contacts placed under medical observation and tested. No high-threat pathogens had been detected among the contacts and that medical observation of all identified contacts had been completed, they reported.
Several countries, including the US, have started taking precautions. Washington has announced a level four travel advisory stating “Do not travel” to Russia due to risk of wrongful detention and security concerns, further adding that the US citizens currently there must leave immediately.
US president Donald Trump told the reporters at the White House on Monday that the outbreak was a big concern for Russia and affirmed that the US will do what it can to help Russia, Reuters reported.
“I hate to see them having it,” Trump said. “It’s a rough disease.” Trump has said he considers Russian president Vladimir Putin someone whom he can work with despite tensions over Russia’s war against Ukraine.
“I think it is incumbent upon Russia to obviously share more information with the world,” Rubio told reporters in Iceland. “We are watching it very closely, hour by hour,” US secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday.
He said the US has measures available to help Russia if the situation turns out to be more serious than has so far been acknowledged, but needed to know more before it could step in, as reported by Reuters.