No plague cases detected among contacts of deceased Siberian lab worker

Moscow: No cases of plague had been detected among people who had come into contact with a laboratory worker at the Siberian plague institute who died on Friday, Russia's health watchdog said on Tuesday.  

According to Reuters, Rospotrebnadzor said in a statement that no infectious diseases had been reported among the staff of the same plague research institute in Irkutsk over the past 10 days and that extensive testing had found no microorganisms in the deceased woman's body linked to her work.  

Also Read:Siberia plague institute worker dies, around 200 quarantined

Elena Sofina, deputy head of the Shelekhov district near Irkutsk, where a local hospital was placed under quarantine, said that a dangerous diagnosis had not been confirmed.  

She added that about 60% of those placed under quarantine had already been released.

Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that a laboratory worker at a plague research institute in ‌Siberia has died in undisclosed circumstances, prompting authorities to quarantine around 200 people and the head of Russia's health watchdog to travel to the Irkutsk region. The death has triggered public health concerns on social media, but the authorities said on Monday the situation was under control.

The World Health Organization said that based on available information, "the ​public health risk to the general population appears to be low". New risk assessments would be conducted once further information became ​known, it said. US President Donald Trump said the death was a "big problem for Russia" and offered to help Moscow deal ⁠with it. 

Also Read:China on alert after reports of suspected bubonic plague cases