WHO seeks details on second pneumonia case after Siberia lab worker's death

Sydney: The World Health Organisation (WHO) has sought further information from Russian authorities about reports of a second employee at a plague research institute in Siberia developing pneumonia of undetermined cause, after the mysterious death of a 28-year-old laboratory worker raised concerns about a possible pneumonic plague case.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the global health body has been “actively following up” on the death of the researcher at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East.

In a lengthy statement on X, Tedros said the WHO had sought details on the “cause of the severe pneumonia” suffered by the researcher who died and the “pathogen that prompted the public health measures.”

The WHO chief also said the organisation had sought details on “reports of a second employee with pneumonia of undetermined cause,” apparently referring to unverified reports carried by some Russian outlets.

The development comes as US President Donald Trump said he was due to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin “very soon”.

Also read | From ‘unknown pneumonia’ to ‘Russia virus’: How the Siberia scare spread online

Speaking to reporters outside the White House, Trump was asked whether US intelligence agencies had information about the incident.

“We are in very deep discussions,” Trump said, adding that his administration would be able to provide more details “probably tomorrow.”

The Wall Street Journal reported that the US government had pressed Russia over its failure to provide more information about the death in an official diplomatic communication. The report said the lack of details could amount to a breach of Russia's international health obligations.

The WHO statement shared by Tedros also noted that: “Timely, complete and transparent information sharing under the International Health Regulations is essential to clarify conflicting reports and enable an accurate assessment of potential public health risks.”

What happened at the Siberia plague research institute?

Russia's national public health agency, Rospotrebnadzor, is investigating the death of 28-year-old Darya Shipilova, a laboratory technician at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East.

Shipilova died on October 2 after developing what Russian authorities described as “pneumonia of unknown aetiology”.

Her death prompted authorities to place nearly 200 people under observation at a hospital, while researchers began laboratory tests to determine the cause of her illness.

The circumstances surrounding her illness remain unclear.

A senior Russian official had posted on social media last week that Shipilova “had died from the plague” before editing the post to add “possibly”. Russia's health watchdog subsequently said she had died from “pneumonia of unknown etiology”.

Local media reports have suggested that she may have been infected following an accident at the laboratory where she worked. Those reports, however, have not been independently confirmed.

Russian health officials told the WHO on Tuesday that no cases of plague had been recorded in Irkutsk.

Irkutsk Governor Igor Kobzev said the public health agency had implemented a “comprehensive set of anti-epidemic measures.”

What is plague and how does it spread?

Plague is an infectious disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis. The bacterium generally lives in ground-dwelling rodents such as rats and prairie dogs, but can also infect humans.

The same bacterium can cause three major forms of plague: bubonic, septicemic and pneumonic plague.

Bubonic plague

Bubonic plague is usually transmitted from animals to humans through infected fleas. It causes painful swelling of the lymph nodes, known as buboes.

Other symptoms can include fever, headache, chills and weakness.

Without antibiotic treatment, bubonic plague can become fatal within days. Between 30 and 60 per cent of people who contract this form can die if untreated.

Septicemic plague

Septicemic plague occurs when the infection enters the bloodstream. It can develop as a complication of untreated bubonic plague or occur directly when the bacteria infect the blood.

The infection can cause bleeding into organs and severe blood poisoning, known as septicemia.

Pneumonic plague

Pneumonic plague is the rarest and most severe form of the disease.

It can develop when plague bacteria spread from another form of the disease to the lungs. Unlike bubonic plague, however, pneumonic plague can also spread directly from person to person through tiny respiratory droplets.

The symptoms include severe pneumonia along with fever, headache, weakness and other signs of infection.

Pneumonic plague can have a fatality rate of up to 100 per cent if it is left untreated.

Importantly, there is currently no official confirmation that Shipilova had pneumonic plague.

Is plague still a threat?

Plague is not simply a medieval disease.

Bubonic plague was responsible for the deaths of tens of millions of people in the western Mediterranean between 541 and 750 CE during the Plague of Justinian. The Black Death later killed up to half of Europe's population during the Middle Ages.

Major outbreaks have occurred since then. A third plague pandemic, which began in the late 19th century and continued into the early 20th century, killed up to 12 million people.

Plague remains endemic in parts of Central Asia, Africa, the Americas and Siberia. This means the bacterium continues to circulate naturally in these regions.

Cases generally occur in rural and agricultural areas, making a potential infection linked to a laboratory in an urban setting an unusual possibility.

Can plague be treated?

Yes. Plague can be treated with antibiotics, particularly when treatment begins soon after infection.

A 10 to 14-day course of antibiotics, administered orally or intravenously depending on the circumstances, can treat the disease.

However, several antibiotic-resistant strains have been detected in the wild since 1995.

Soviet scientists also engineered antibiotic-resistant strains in the 1980s, a history that has contributed to hypothetical scenarios involving biological warfare.

There is, however, no evidence that the strain allegedly involved in Shipilova's illness was resistant to antibiotics or that the Siberian laboratory was researching biological weapons.

How worried should people be?

Despite the alarming reports, experts say there is currently limited evidence to suggest a wider outbreak.

There has been only one documented major outbreak of pneumonic plague, in China in the 1910s.

The circumstances surrounding the Siberian case remain unclear, and the suspected cause of Shipilova's death has not been officially established.

The WHO said on Monday that it was aware of reports that a laboratory worker in Irkutsk had “died of severe pneumonia”, but that no cause of death had been officially confirmed.

The WHO also said, “Based on unofficial information available, the public health risk to the general population appears to be low. The risk assessment will be updated once more information is available.”

For now, determining how Shipilova became ill, identifying the pathogen involved and establishing whether there was a second pneumonia case will be critical to assessing whether the incident poses any broader public health risk.