The World Health Organization (WHO) has released its risk assessment related to a suspected case of plague for the Russian Federation and European countries, according to infohub.kz.
According to the WHO website, the organization is closely monitoring the situation in the Irkutsk Region, where, according to official data, a female medical laboratory worker died on October 2 from a severe form of pneumonia. WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier told journalists at a briefing in Geneva that the incident raised concerns about possible plague infection because the woman worked with dangerous pathogens. According to Lindmeier, the official cause of death of the laboratory worker has not yet been confirmed, and investigations are ongoing.
"According to test results, none of those who had contact with the patient have been found to have pathogens of dangerous infectious diseases," the WHO spokesperson said, citing information received from Russian health authorities.
The report also noted that the illness "initially presented as a typical acute respiratory viral infection." Lindmeier emphasized that the WHO's initial assessment, based on available information, rates the risk as moderate: "low for Irkutsk, low for the Russian Federation as a whole, and very low for the WHO European Region."
According to the WHO, plague is caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, which is usually found in small mammals and the fleas on their bodies. Pneumonic plague occurs when the bacterium infects the lungs. This form of plague is particularly contagious and "can cause severe epidemics when transmitted from person to person via the respiratory route." The organization clarified that pneumonic plague can be fatal within 18–24 hours after the onset of illness if left untreated, but with early diagnosis, modern antibiotics can quickly stabilize the patient.
Recall that earlier media reported that in the Irkutsk Region of Russia, a female employee of an anti-plague institute died with suspected plague. It was assumed that the deceased accidentally broke a test tube containing a dangerous bacterium in the laboratory while collecting biomaterial for diagnostics. The cause of death of the 28-year-old woman in the Irkutsk Region is described as pneumonia of undetermined etiology.
Soon after, the Ministry of Health reported on measures taken in Kazakhstan following information about a suspected case of a particularly dangerous infection in Russia.