WHO seeks details from Russia on reports of second lab worker with pneumonia

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The World Health Organization said it had requested information from Russian authorities on media reports of a second laboratory employee with pneumonia of undetermined cause.

The WHO also requested further information to clarify the cause of the severe pneumonia and the pathogen that prompted public health measures, it said in a statement on Tuesday.

EXPLAINER: What do we know about plague institute lab worker's death in Russia?

Russia's health watchdog had said on Tuesday that no cases of plague had been detected among anyone who had come into contact with a Siberian plague institute laboratory worker who died last week.

Russian media named the victim as Darya Shipilova, a 28-year-old laboratory worker at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East.

The authorities said she died of an unknown type of pneumonia but that as a precaution they quarantined everyone who had come into contact with her.

There is no confirmation she died from plague although one regional governor said she "may" have died from plague.

Health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor said she died of an unknown type of pneumonia and that no relevant pathogens had been found in anyone who came into contact with her. — Reuters

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