An employee of the Institute for Plague Control of Siberia and the Far East in Russia was diagnosed with pneumonia of unknown cause. As reported by the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing on Tuesday, the epidemiological situation in the Irkutsk region and affected cities remains stable.
According to the agency's data, no microorganisms related to the patient's professional activities were found in the samples taken from her. The Institute also confirmed that no incidents occurred during work with pathogenic microorganisms at the facility. Conclusions drawn by the expert group sent by the agency to the institute confirmed this data.
Following this case, local authorities immediately introduced comprehensive measures to prevent epidemics. Over the past ten days, no cases of infectious diseases have been registered among the institute's staff.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated in an X post that the patient was hospitalized with severe pneumonia and died on October 2. He noted that WHO has been closely monitoring this case since the first reports of death. Russian health authorities informed WHO that there have been no recent cases of plague registered in the Irkutsk region, and no highly dangerous pathogens were found among the patient's contacts.