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Russian authorities are maintaining strict control over information regarding the suspicious death last week of a laboratory worker in Siberia, a case surrounded by secrecy and claims that it could have been caused by pneumonic plague.
Although the case has generated global concern, Russian state television and other state-controlled national media have avoided the topic. Some state-sponsored media outlets removed previous reports on the case, which has been featured by independent online outlets.
The Russian public health watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, reported on Sunday that the laboratory worker was diagnosed with “pneumonia of unknown etiology,” meaning its origin was unknown.
In its official statements, which were written concisely, it does not link the case to pneumonic plague and merely notes that “exhaustive” tests found no evidence that her illness was caused by any of the pathogens she worked with at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East, in southeastern Siberia.
A state television station in Irkutsk reported that she died on October 2 at a hospital in Shelekhov, a town outside of Irkutsk.
Officials have quarantined a hospital and are monitoring the contacts of the worker, who died from what unconfirmed media reports indicated could have been pneumonic plague, a less common but serious form of plague that can spread from person to person.
Moscow informed the World Health Organization that no cases of plague have been registered in the Irkutsk region of southeastern Siberia.
U.S. President Donald Trump said he would speak about the matter “very soon” with Russian President Vladimir Putin and that he would report on it “probably tomorrow.” Putin turns 74 on Wednesday.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov noted on Wednesday that a call between Putin and Trump has not yet been scheduled, but could be arranged quickly.
Trump stated that the United States is ready to help Russia. When asked what the U.S. intelligence community was saying about the case, Trump responded that the United States is in “very deep talks” on the issue.
Pressure on Russia for more information
In response to the WHO's request to clarify the situation following press reports alleging that pneumonic plague was the cause of the laboratory worker's death, Russia stated that no cases of plague had recently been registered in the Irkutsk region, the UN agency indicated.
Russian health authorities reported that a full set of preventive measures was carried out—including tracing the contacts of the deceased woman, medical monitoring, and laboratory tests—the WHO said on Wednesday. The Russian note, relayed to The Associated Press by the WHO, indicated that tests showed an “absence of pathogens of dangerous infectious diseases in any of the contacts.”
The Geneva-based agency indicated it has requested further information to clarify the cause of the severe pneumonia, the pathogen that prompted the public health measures, and the press reports regarding a second employee with pneumonia of indeterminate cause.
The organization noted that it has remained in contact with Russian health authorities and offered technical support.
The Kremlin and other officials remain silent
Peskov has referred all questions to Rospotrebnadzor, which does not mention suspicions of plague in its reports.
In its most recent statement on Tuesday, the agency claimed that “the sanitary and epidemiological situation in the Irkutsk region, the cities of Irkutsk and Shelekhov is calm.” It indicated that authorities were completing a “set of prophylactic measures and medical observation of contacts,” adding that so far they have found two cases of COVID-19 and two cases of rhinovirus.
“No other infectious pathogens have been found among the contacts,” it stated.
Judy Twigg, a professor of political science at Virginia Commonwealth University, noted that while the measures taken by Russian health authorities “have been rapid and serious,” officials attempted to minimize the situation and that “any statement that deviated from that party line... was edited or removed within a matter of hours.”
“What we are seeing is less a failure to respond than a failure of sincerity,” Twigg said in written comments.
Vasily Vlassov, a professor at the Department of Health Care Administration and Economics at Russia's Higher School of Economics, stated that the measures adopted seemed “sensible,” focused on treating the sick, isolating them and their contacts, searching for new cases, and carrying out final disinfection.
But he said it was unclear if more transparency would be possible if those facing the situation did not have enough certainty, and that “perhaps they still don't have it.” Misleading the public in these cases “always proves harmful,” he added, and distrust of the official Russian narrative is “natural” and “almost inevitable.”
The incubation period of pneumonic plague—the most virulent form of the disease—can be as short as 24 hours, according to the WHO. The disease, which affects the lungs, is a less common but serious form of plague that can spread between people through respiratory particles. If left untreated, it can be fatal, but recovery rates are high if it is detected and treated early, it indicated.
[Publicidad]