WHO Monitors Mystery Russian Pneumonia, Confirms No Dangerous Pathogens and No Outbreak
2▲0 ▼0Impact / 5
The World Health Organization, or WHO, has disclosed that it still cannot determine the exact cause of the pneumonia that killed a laboratory staff member at a plague prevention and control research institute in a Siberian region of Russia earlier last month, but it confirmed that no plague cases have been reported so far. Russian authorities reported that laboratory tests on the deceased and on close contacts came back negative for all high-risk pathogens that were screened. None of the close contacts have shown symptoms, and no additional cases of severe pneumonia linked to this incident have been reported. The staff member fell ill and died on October 2, and authorities have not disclosed precise details or the circumstances of the death, prompting the quarantine of about 200 close contacts for monitoring, which sparked public health concerns on social media. However, Russian authorities confirmed that the deceased had been properly and fully vaccinated in line with requirements, and that laboratory tests found no pathogens related to laboratory work. On Thursday, October 8, Russian authorities added that they had completed health screening of all close contacts and had fully submitted the data to the WHO in accordance with international procedures and protocols. Meanwhile, public health officials worldwide have stepped up surveillance of unexplained pneumonia deaths since the COVID-19 pandemic, which began with a cluster of rapidly spreading severe respiratory cases in China, even though medically, identifying the specific cause of pneumonia in individual patients is often complex and difficult.