The World Health Organization has still not determined the cause of the pneumonia that killed an employee of an anti-plague research centre in Russia’s Irkutsk region in early October, Reuters reports.
The organisation stressed that no cases of plague have been recorded.
According to the WHO, the Russian authorities reported negative test results for the deceased and for people who had been in contact with her for the relevant dangerous pathogens. No symptoms were found among those contacts either, and no other cases of severe pneumonia were recorded among people linked to the deceased.
"Based on the information provided... the WHO has found no evidence of ongoing transmission of infection associated with this event. A key uncertainty remains the absence of a confirmed diagnosis in the deceased laboratory worker," the organisation said in a statement.
As a result, the cause of death of the centre employee remains undetermined.
Context
- Reports of a possible case emerged after the death of 28-year-old Daria Shipilova, who worked at a plague research institute in the Irkutsk region. According to Russian media, she may have been infected after a test tube broke, and about 200 people who may have been in contact with her were sent into quarantine.
- At the same time, Russian officials said that tests carried out after her death found no plague. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington was closely monitoring the situation and had the capacity to help Moscow if it proved more serious.
- US President Donald Trump also said the day before that the United States was ready to provide assistance, calling the situation a "major problem". WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier said Russia has not yet responded to the organisation’s request for details about the circumstances of Shipilova’s death.