Russia’s health watchdog has said there is currently no epidemic threat to the public following the reported death of a laboratory technician at a plague research institute in Siberia.
The 28-year-old woman, who worked at a research facility in the Irkutsk region, was reported to have died last week amid claims that she may have contracted plague after a test tube broke in the laboratory.
The report has raised concerns and prompted calls for greater transparency from international health authorities, including the World Health Organization, the United States and the European Union.
Russian authorities, however, have disputed the reported cause of death, saying the woman died from pneumonia and that the exact cause remained “undetermined.”
Russia’s consumer health and safety watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, said the sanitary and epidemiological situation in the Irkutsk region remained stable and that its investigations had found no evidence of a wider health emergency.
“The sanitary and epidemiological situation in the Irkutsk region… is calm,” the agency said, adding that “there are no epidemic risks for the population.”
Rospotrebnadzor said extensive checks had been carried out following the incident, including investigations involving people who had contact with the deceased.
More than 90 percent of identified contacts had completed medical observation, according to the agency, which said no health problems associated with infectious disease had been detected.
The watchdog also said nearly 5,000 laboratory tests had been conducted and that none detected dangerous pathogenic microorganisms.
“No health disorders associated with infectious pathology were detected,” the agency said.
Woman Had Been Vaccinated
Rospotrebnadzor also said the laboratory technician had been vaccinated and had immunity against dangerous infections associated with the pathogens she worked with.
Despite insisting that there was no epidemic threat, the agency said it had introduced a series of precautionary measures in accordance with Russia’s sanitary regulations.
The measures were described as preventive steps intended to ensure public safety following the reported incident.
The case has nevertheless attracted international attention, with the WHO, the United States and the European Union calling for more information and transparency surrounding what happened at the Siberian research facility.
Rospotrebnadzor maintained that the laboratory had followed appropriate safety controls when working with pathogenic microorganisms and said its investigations had not identified any emergency situation.
Source: AFP.
