Source: United Nations (video statements)
Update from WHO, earlier today, the WHO Director-General Dr Tedros said that since the first media reports, the WHO has been actively following-up on the reported death of a laboratory worker in the Irkutsk Antiplague Research Centre in the Russian Federation.
Dr. Tedros said the response to WHO’s verification request under International Health Regulations, the Russian health authorities reported that no case of plague had recently been registered in Irkutsk oblast, where the lab is located.
Dr Tedros said that WHO has remained in contact with the Russian health authorities and has offered technical support. WHO has also requested further information to clarify the cause of the severe pneumonia, the pathogen that prompted the public health measures and media reports of a second employee with pneumonia of undetermined cause.
Dr Tedros said that as WHO does not yet have the full picture of this event, they are not able to conduct a full risk assessment. He stressed that timely, complete and transparent information-sharing under the established International Health Regulations is essential to clarify conflicting reports and enable an accurate assessment of potential public health risks.