“We do not yet have a complete picture of the situation, which is why we are unable to carry out a comprehensive risk assessment,” explained WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
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The World Health Organization (WHO) has asked Russia for information regarding a possible further death from pneumonia in Irkutsk. WHO expert Abdirahman Mahamud, speaking in Geneva, emphasised that the organisation was referring to a media report which, as is customary in such cases, had been systematically verified and deemed credible.
No response has been received yet. The Russian authorities were also asked for further information regarding the first case involving the death of a female scientist who worked at the Institute for the Control of Plague Diseases in Irkutsk. In her case, there had been talk of possible pneumonic plague. Russia denied this.
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“We do not yet have a complete picture of the situation and are not in a position to carry out a comprehensive risk assessment,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Further WHO enquiries regarding the death in Irkutsk
According to the WHO, Russia reported that the young female scientist had not died of pneumonic plague, but of pneumonia of unknown origin. It was stated that there had been no accident at the institute.
The information requested by the WHO includes, among other things, what kind of tests were carried out on the woman and around 200 other people, exactly what material the woman had been working with, what safety precautions were in place at the institute, and whether and how she had been vaccinated, said WHO specialist Maria van Kerkhove.
According to van Kerkhove, just under 4,000 cases of plague were reported to the WHO from ten countries between 2019 and 2025, including 423 deaths.
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Translated from German, reviewed by an English Department journalist
