How Russia and the world are responding to a possible case of pneumonic plague after lab worker dies

GENEVA — Russian authorities informed the World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday that there are no plague cases in the Siberian city of Irkutsk, where a lab worker at a plague research institute passed away last week, according to a WHO spokesperson. Moscow, which is obligated to respond to WHO inquiries within 24 hours under international health guidelines, had previously indicated to the WHO that they were investigating if pneumonic plague was the cause of the worker's death.

The Russian government stated in an official reply to the WHO, read by WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier at a press conference in Geneva, that no instances of this deadly disease have been documented in Irkutsk. They also informed the UN agency that they have identified the individuals in contact with the deceased and that test results for hazardous infectious agents came back negative.

It remained unclear to Reuters whether they had also examined the lab worker and if they could rule out plague in her case. The Russian diplomatic delegation to the UN in Geneva had not yet responded.