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Representatives from the European Commission and member states plan to discuss the suspected outbreak of pneumonic plague in Siberia, Russia, as national authorities scramble to get a clear picture of the situation.
A meeting of the Health Security Committee, which evaluates serious cross-border health threats, will take place on Wednesday morning in Brussels. The meeting was already scheduled, but the item has been added to the running order.
“I can confirm the incident in Russia will be on the agenda of the Health Security Committee,” a Commission spokesperson told Euronews.
The case revolves around a female lab worker at the Irkutsk Research Anti-Plague Institute, in south-eastern Siberia, who died on 2 October in uncertain circumstances. Her death was attributed to a “pneumonia of unknown aetiology”.
Russian authorities say they have found no evidence that her illness was caused by any of the pathogens she worked with and insist the situation is under control.
The hospital where the lab worker was treated was placed under quarantine. About 200 people who had been in touch with her went into strict medical observation.
Separately, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan introduced precautionary measures at their borders to prevent the possible spread of infectious diseases.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday that none of those people has shown symptoms so far and early testing has been negative, although it noted it was “unclear” which pathogens were tested.
The WHO noted the risk for the European region was “very low”.
In a statement, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said the suspicion of a plague outbreak was “not yet confirmed”.
“There is little travel between Irkutsk and the EU, particularly at present due to Russia’s war against Ukraine,” the agency said.
“Based on the limited information currently available, there are no reports of secondary cases or sustained human-to-human transmission.”
Brussels and Washington are closely monitoring the evolving situation and have urged Russia to provide accurate and transparent information.
Pneumonic plague occurs when plague, an infectious disease caused by bacteria, infects the lungs. It is the most serious form of the disease and can be spread from person to person. If left untreated, it has a case-fatality ratio of 30% to 100%.