MOSCOW/GENEVA (HT): Russia has rejected reports of a second suspected pneumonic-plague case in Siberia as the World Health Organization presses Moscow for more information about the unexplained death of a research-institute employee.
Russian authorities acknowledged that a 28-year-old employee of the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute died after developing pneumonia of undetermined origin. Russia’s health regulator said testing had not identified infections among other institute staff.
The WHO said it does not yet know the organism responsible for the woman’s illness and has asked Russia to clarify reports that another employee developed pneumonia. No pneumonic-plague infection has been officially confirmed.
The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said there was currently no indication of a wider threat and described the risk to the American public as extremely low. Al Jazeera
