What is pneumonic plague and how dangerous is it?
WHO says the public health risk outside Russia is very low as officials monitor 46 exposed contacts and await test results.
- A 28-year-old researcher at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute died last week from pneumonia of undetermined origin, prompting authorities to place around 200 contacts under medical observation.
- Pneumonic plague, a rare lung infection caused by Yersinia pestis, can be fatal within days if untreated but remains highly responsive to early antibiotics, according to the World Health Organization.
- While local media reports suggest a lab accident involving a broken test tube, Russian health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor denies any link between Shipilova's work and her death, citing test results showing no detected pathogens.
- U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged Russian authorities to increase transparency, while the World Health Organization deemed the public health risk to the broader European region very low.
- Experts including infectious disease specialist Professor Paul Griffin note that modern surveillance and containment capabilities limit spread potential, distinguishing this case from historical pandemics like the 14th-century Black Death.
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The Russian authorities, via the agency Rospotrebnadzor, claim that "no health problems related to an infectious pathology have been detected" among the people in contact with the patient and denounce "false information"
Russia today argued that it trusts the public health agency, Rospotrebnadzor, considering that the "great majority" of information released by the media about cases of plague in Siberia is false.
Le Journal de Montreal
Le Journal de QuebecSuspects of plague: the Kremlin deplores a multitude of "false information".
Radio France Internationale
dhnet.beThe Kremlin considered on Wednesday that the "great majority" of information reported by the media about the suspicious death in Siberia of a laboratory working at a pest study institute was "false".
Reformatorisch Dagblad
Russia has emphasized that it properly informed the World Health Organization (WHO) about a death in the east of the country, which initial reports suggested was linked to the plague. However, according to Moscow, investigations show this is not the case.
In Rossimnadzor, it was reported that the agency had sent information to the World Health Organization (WHO) on the situation in the Irkutsk region in connection with the
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