WHO breaks silence on ‘thriller Russian pneumonia’ pressure after lab employee loss of life
Fears of a terrifying plague outbreak emerged from Russia last week after a young scientist died at a lab in Siberia which specialises in deadly diseases
The lab technician worked at Irkutsk Antiplague Research Institute (file)
WHO has urged Russian officials to give up more information on the mystery pneumonia flu which is suspected to have killed a lab worker on October 2. The UN health agency admitted “uncertainty” about where the illness sprung from in its first statement on the incident.
“Additional clinical, epidemiological and laboratory information, including confirmation of the diagnosis in the deceased laboratory worker, is required to improve confidence in the assessment,” WHO said.
The agency called on Russia to “actively engage” and pledged to continue their investigations. They added: “Testing did not identify plague or other tested high-threat pathogens, and the death has been classified as pneumonia.
The WHO has broken its silence on the incident (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
“Given the absence of a confirmed diagnosis, WHO is not in a position to independently assess whether the duration of the reported monitoring period for contacts was sufficient to exclude all plausible causes of the fatal illness.”
Last week fears of a terrifying plague outbreak emerged from Russia after the mysterious death of a young scientist who worked at a facility specialising in deadly diseases.
Darya Shipilova, 28, worked at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute in Siberia before she fell seriously ill with severe pneumonia.
Reports of the alleged pneumonic plague swept through Europe and Russia(Image: Anadolu via Getty Images)
She died on October 2 with reports suggesting she may have accidentally broken a tube containing live plague bacteria.
Fears the gruesome disease may have escaped the lab were amplified when over 200 who potentially came into contact with Darya were placed in isolation.
Some senior UK politicians claimed the outbreak may have been an attempt from Vladimir Putin to “weaponise a virus”.
Some people feared it could be a ‘weaponised’ virus from Putin(Image: Getty Images/Science Photo Library RF)
Dr. Neil Shastri-Hurst, MP for Solihull West and Shirley, said the Russian plague could be a “threat to national security”.
He said: “I was watching No Time To Die at the weekend, and a few years ago you might have thought it was a fanciful story – now it’s a reality.
“There are a lot of hostile actors who want to cause us harm and they don’t really care how they do. We’ve got to be aware of the weaponisation of disease and how they are a threat to our national security.
“It’s about having a ring of protection around our country. Once the disease gets past that – it is too late.”
