WHO. Photo: Shutterstock The World Health Organization is seeking more information from Russian authorities after a laboratory worker at the Irkutsk Antiplague Research Institute died following severe pneumonia, amid initial reports that raised concerns about possible pneumonic plague.
The worker died on October 2 after being hospitalized with severe pneumonia. Early media reports suggested the illness could have been pneumonic plague following an alleged accidental exposure at the laboratory.
However, the WHO said Russian health authorities reported that no cases of plague had recently been registered in Irkutsk oblast. An epidemiological investigation was carried out, while preventive and control measures were introduced and identified contacts were placed under medical observation and tested.
According to information provided to WHO, no high-threat pathogens were detected among the contacts, and medical observation of all identified contacts has been completed.
WHO said it remains in contact with Russian health authorities and has offered technical support.
The organization has also requested additional information to establish the cause of the severe pneumonia, identify the pathogen that prompted the public health measures and clarify reports that a second employee had developed pneumonia of undetermined cause.
The case has drawn international attention because of the worker's employment at a facility specializing in plague research.
The Institute was founded in 1934 by the order of the Authorized Advice of Labour and Defense of the USSR, playing the role of a "scientific operative body for plague control".
In the years that followed, the Institute started to work with other especially dangerous diseases, including cholera, brucellosis, tularemia, anthrax, and arbovirus infections.
"Now the Institute represents a multi-field scientific research and anti-epidemic Establishment, providing, jointly with Managements, Regional Centers of Hygiene and Epidemiology, and Antiplague Stations of Rospotrebnadzor, epidemic control for especially dangerous bacterial and viral infections in the Siberian and Far Eastern Federal Districts. Ninety-five scientific employees, including 13 Doctors and 40 Candidates of Medical and Biological Sciences, work at the Institute," says the institute on its website.
Pneumonic plague under microscope. Photo: ShutterstockPlague is caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, and pneumonic plague is the most severe form. The rare, deadly lung infection can spread through respiratory particles. WHO says early diagnosis and antibiotic treatment are essential.
Symptoms include fever, headache, shortness of breath, chest pain, and coughing, including coughing up blood.
The early signs start to manifest about three to seven days after exposure. Pneumonic plague is one of the other two forms of plague, bubonic plague and septicemic plague, respectively.
WHO stressed the importance of timely and complete information sharing under the International Health Regulations, saying this is necessary to resolve conflicting reports and accurately assess any potential public health risk.