WHO Says No Plague Case Confirmed After Russian Lab Worker's Death

The WHO said it lacks a confirmed diagnosis for the pneumonia that killed a Russian lab worker, reporting no plague case and no evidence of ongoing transmission.

• A 28-year-old laboratory technician at the Irkutsk Antiplague Research Institute died on October 2 in undisclosed circumstances, prompting quarantine of about 200 people.
• The WHO said tests on the worker and her contacts were negative for dangerous pathogens, with no evidence of ongoing transmission.
• WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus asked Russia to respond to reports of a second employee with pneumonia, which Russia dismissed as false information.
• The WHO said the researcher died in a hospital on September 29 from severe pneumonia.
• The WHO said suspected pneumonic plague was considered a possible cause after the researcher's occupational exposure in the lab.