WHO urges Russia to clarify reports of Siberian lab worker’s death
The cause of death at a plague research institute remains unconfirmed, while reports of a second employee describe pneumonia of undetermined cause.
The World Health Organization, United States and European Union have urged Russia to provide information about a worker’s reported death at a plague research institute in Siberia’s Irkutsk region last week. Russian authorities say the cause of death has not been confirmed.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also called on Wednesday for clarification of media reports about a second employee with pneumonia of undetermined cause. Those reports do not establish that the employee has plague.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said most media reporting on the situation was false and urged the public to rely on statements from Russia’s health watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor.
Peskov said he had no information about a formal US request for clarification. An unnamed source cited by France 24 said Washington had made such a request through a confidential diplomatic communication.
Reports of a lab accident, a broken test tube and a quarantine involving as many as 200 people have not been confirmed by Russian authorities. Rospotrebnadzor has denied claims circulating in an online document that special measures were imposed.
