The Kremlin also said most media reports about the incident were false and that Russia had notified the World Health Organization of the laboratory worker’s death in line with established practice. The worker at the Irkutsk Antiplague Research Institute died on Oct. 2 after severe pneumonia. Reports that she contracted pneumonic plague following an accidental laboratory exposure remain unconfirmed.
Russian authorities told the WHO that no plague case had recently been registered in the region, no high-threat pathogens had been detected among identified contacts and their medical observation had ended. The WHO is seeking the cause of the pneumonia, the pathogen that prompted preventive measures and details of reports of a second employee with pneumonia of undetermined cause. The US has sent Moscow a formal diplomatic request for more information, while the CDC says there is no indication of a broader threat to the US.