Russia plague fears: WHO seeks details from Moscow on reports of second pneumonia case linked to lab

The World Health Institute is seeking details from Moscow on local reports of a second pneumonia case linked to a plague research lab in Siberia already under scrutiny following the death of a young researcher.

The WHO confirmed it was already “actively following up” on the death of the researcher amid unconfirmed reports that she had either become ill after breaking a test tube containing a pathogen in the Siberian lab, or had contracted her infection during a trip to a border region with Mongolia where pneumonic plague was endemic among local rodents.

Now it claims it is looking into local media publishing “reports of a second employee with pneumonia of undetermined cause” at the Anti-Plague Institute of Siberia and the Far East in Irkutsk.

The lengthy statement from WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus comes as US President Donald Trump confirmed he has a phone call scheduled with Russian President Vladimir Putin “very soon” and that it would be one of the matters up for discussion.

Ghebreyesus posted that WHO has been actively “following up” on the reports of the October 2 death of the lab worker from severe pneumonia after “initial media reports suggested pneumonic plague following an alleged accidental laboratory exposure”.

That death prompted Russian authorities to place five hospitals on lockdown and to put 200 people linked to the 28-year-old woman under medical observation.

However, Irkutsk’s governor said while the woman’s death was caused by “pneumonia of undetermined etiology” he added that her biological samples failed to reveal any micro-organisms linked to her lab or her work.

The WHO chief said he was still seeking further detail in his post.

“WHO has requested further information to clarify the cause of the severe pneumonia, the pathogen that prompted the public health measures, and media reports of a second employee with pneumonia of undetermined cause,” he posted.

Rospotrebnadzor, Russia’s health watchdog, said in a statement on Tuesday that no infectious diseases had been reported among the staff of the same plague research institute in Irkutsk over the past 10 days and that extensive testing had found no micro-organisms in the deceased woman’s body linked to her work.

“A comprehensive set of anti-epidemic measures was immediately organised and implemented ‌in full in accordance ‌with public health legislation,” the ⁠watchdog said.

“This included identifying the widest possible circle of individuals who had been in contact with the patient and arranging for them to be placed under medical observation in hospital with daily laboratory tests.”

It said the results had revealed two cases of COVID-19 and two cases of rhinovirus infection, but that no pathogens causing other infectious diseases had been detected.

Elena Sofina, deputy head of the Shelekhov district near Irkutsk, where a local hospital was placed under quarantine, said what she called ⁠a “dangerous diagnosis” had not been confirmed.

She added that 60 per cent of those placed under ‌quarantine as a precaution had already been released while local media said around 200 people had previously been quarantined.

Trump referred to the initial death in discussions with journalists earlier this week, amid reports that his administration was pressing Russia for further detail on the researcher’s death.

When asked if his nation’s intelligence agencies had further information on the case, Trump told them “we are in very deep discussions” and there would likely be further information this week.

Trump on Monday described the situation as a “big problem for Russia”. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday it was incumbent on Moscow to share more information.

with AAP