WHO says Russia confirms death at research lab, no plague case registered
WHO said Russia confirmed the lab worker’s death and reported negative tests for high-risk pathogens after about 200 contacts were quarantined.
- Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov claimed "the vast majority" of media reports about the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute situation constitute "false information," warning of potential sanctions against outlets spreading such news.
- Reports published earlier this month alleged a worker at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute died of "pneumonic plague," triggering widespread public health countermeasures by regional officials.
- WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the agency cannot conduct a risk assessment without more details, while Irkutsk Gov. Igor Kobzev declared preventive measures completed Thursday.
- President Donald Trump stated "we don't think so" regarding whether a "bioweapon" caused the death, while officials placed nearly 200 contacts under medical observation.
- A State Department report last year noted Russia is "extensively modernizing Soviet-era biological warfare infrastructure," raising historical concerns about biological research in the region.
234 Articles
234 Articles
Sydney Morning Herald
Inside the plague research labs at the heart of a Russian mystery
A researcher who died from an unknown illness worked at a remote anti-plague facility. Few foreigners have visited these labs, which dot the former Soviet states, and are shrouded in secrecy.
A week after the global news that a plague bacterium had allegedly escaped from a laboratory in Siberia, that news is starting to evaporate somewhat. A...
A Russian researcher, who died of an unknown disease, worked in a remote centre dedicated to the fight against plague.
According to Russian authorities, the deceased laboratory worker did not have the plague.
Is Russia playing deadly games with the plague? Look to its history.
Following reports of a suspicious death and quarantine at Russia's Irkutsk Research Anti-Plague Institute, analysts are calling for transparency and international investigation amidst historical context of Russian biological weapons research.
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