By Jennifer Rigby and Andrew Osborn
LONDON/MOSCOW, Oct 7 (Reuters) – The World Health Organization said on Wednesday it had asked Russia for more information about what killed a plague institute worker in Siberia, but the Kremlin said Moscow had shared what it knew and accused the media of spreading lies.
Russian authorities say the 28-year-old laboratory worker died on Friday from pneumonia of an as-yet unestablished origin, in a case that has prompted international concern, including from US President Donald Trump, and which saw around 200 people initially placed in quarantine.
Russia’s health watchdog said on Tuesday that no cases of plague had been detected among anyone who had come into contact with the deceased worker, Darya Shipilova, and a local official said that 60% of those placed in quarantine had been released.
But Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director general of the WHO in Geneva, said in a statement on X that his organisation needed more information from Russia to fully understand what had happened.
“WHO has requested further information to clarify the cause of the severe pneumonia, the pathogen that prompted the public health measures, and media reports of a second employee with pneumonia of undetermined cause,” he said.
“Timely, complete and transparent information sharing under the International Health Regulations is essential to clarify conflicting reports and enable an accurate assessment of potential public health risks.”
KREMLIN SAYS IT PROPERLY INFORMED WHO
The Kremlin said Russia had properly informed the WHO about the incident in line with established procedures.
When asked about the WHO’s request to respond to reports about a second person in Siberia allegedly falling ill, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov urged caution when it came to using media reports as a reference for what was happening.
“There is a great deal of media coverage, and the vast majority of what the media are reporting about this situation is false information,” said Peskov.
He advised the media and others to rely on information provided by Rospotrebnadzor, Russia’s health regulator. It did not immediately respond to a Reuters comment request on Wednesday about the WHO’s questions.
EXACT CAUSE OF DEATH REMAINS UNKNOWN
Some Western media outlets have reported – citing unnamed “Russian media” – that a second person in Siberia had died, saying they had died of plague.
Reuters was unable to find any such stories in Russian media or any evidence that a second person in Siberia had died although some bloggers on social media were making – without evidence – such assertions.
Contacted by Reuters, the WHO said it had nothing further to add on the matter beyond what Tedros – who was due to give a press conference later on Wednesday – had already posted on X.
Tedros’ call for more information echoed that of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio who has said Moscow needs to share more information about the incident.
While Russia’s health watchdog has said that Shipilova died after contracting pneumonia, it has not publicly explained what caused it or how she fell ill.
Pneumonia, a lung infection, can have a variety of causes including plague as well as other bacterial infections or viral respiratory diseases, such as flu or COVID-19.
(Reporting by Jennifer Rigby in London, Shubham Kalia in Bengaluru and Andrew Osborn and Dmitry Antonov in Moscow;Writing by Andrew OsbornEditing by Toby Chopra and Alison Williams)
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