Moscow: (Web Desk) Russia’s health authorities have ruled out any epidemic threat after reports that a laboratory technician in Siberia died from plague last week, amid growing international calls for greater transparency over the incident.
The 28-year-old woman reportedly worked at a plague research institute in Russia’s Irkutsk region. Local news outlet People of Baikal reported that she may have contracted the disease after a laboratory test tube broke.
Russian authorities have rejected the reported cause of death, stating that the woman died from pneumonia and that the exact cause remained undetermined.
The country’s health watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, said on Wednesday that the sanitary and epidemiological situation in the Irkutsk region remained stable and that there was no epidemic risk to the public.
The agency said an extensive investigation had found no emergencies and determined that the laboratory had followed required safety procedures while handling dangerous pathogens.
According to the watchdog, more than 90 percent of people who had contact with the woman had completed medical observation, with no infectious-disease-related health problems detected.
Rospotrebnadzor also said nearly 5,000 laboratory tests had been conducted and had not identified any dangerous pathogenic microorganisms.
The agency added that the deceased laboratory worker had been vaccinated and had immunity against the dangerous infections she handled as part of her work.
Despite ruling out an epidemic threat, authorities said precautionary anti-epidemic measures had been introduced in accordance with Russia’s sanitary regulations.
Rospotrebnadzor further said information about the incident had been shared with the World Health Organization under international health regulations.
The statement came amid calls from the WHO, the United States and the European Union for greater transparency regarding the reported incident.
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