Pneumonic plague: the WHO, in the dark, calls on Russia for greater transparency

‘It is not the single death that worries me. It is how the infection might have occurred, if pneumonic plague were indeed confirmed. If it were to emerge that a laboratory had been handling pathogens for malicious purposes, that would be an extremely serious matter. Equally worrying is the lack of transparency: contradictory accounts, incomplete information, and quarantines without clear explanations.” Voicing the thoughts of many – including, in all likelihood, the Director-General of the World Health Organisation, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus himself – is, amongst others in Italia, the infectious disease specialist Matteo Bassetti, a professor in Genoa, where he heads the Infectious Diseases Clinic at the IRCCS Ospedale Policlinico San Martino. Bassetti’s premise – as he sets out his thoughts on the social media platform X – is that ‘at present, we do not have sufficient evidence to speak of either the plague or bioterrorism. But this is precisely why we need transparency, independent verification and comprehensive information’. Finally, the key question: ‘If it really were the plague, can we be certain that the outbreak has been contained and that the world is receiving accurate information?’,

One thing is certain: almost a week after the death in Siberia, from severe pneumonia, of the 28-year-old researcher at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute, global health authorities are still in the dark.
Firstly, the WHO announced that it is currently unable to carry out a comprehensive risk assessment following the woman’s death, due to the lack of a ‘complete picture’ of the situation. The Director-General explained this to the press in Geneva: “We do not yet have a complete picture of the event and are unable to carry out a comprehensive risk assessment,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, emphasising that “the timely sharing of information” by the relevant authorities “is crucial”.

The EU Commission took a similar line, having held a meeting of the Health Security Committee: “The recent death in Russia and possible links to the plague were discussed,” said European Commission spokesperson Eva Hrncirova. “ “WHO Europe shared the limited information received from the authorities of the Russian Federation and emphasised that it is seeking further clarification.” The European Commission is, however, “in regular contact with the World Health Organisation and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control”. And the Commission, which does not rule out convening the Health Security Committee again ‘if necessary’, reiterates that it is monitoring the situation ‘very closely’.

“The WHO,” its Director-General reported, “is aware that the Russian government held a meeting on 2 October because it suspected that a resident of the Irkutsk Oblast had contracted a dangerous infection. On Saturday, the Organisation requested further information from the Russian Federation, in accordance with the International Health Regulations. Yesterday (6 October, ed.), the Russian Federation replied, stating that no cases of plague had recently been reported in the Irkutsk Oblast and that they had quarantined around 200 contacts. However, the WHO – as Tedros later reported – requested further information on the laboratory tests carried out on the deceased person and their contacts, more details on the reasons behind the public health measures, and details on the state of health of the contacts. ‘We have also requested verification of media reports concerning a second employee with pneumonia of unknown cause.’ Finally, the Organisation ‘offered technical support relating to biosafety and, in particular, to laboratory biosafety’.

Whilst calls for greater transparency from the WHO are mounting, the EU and, even earlier in recent days, the United States, the Russian authorities have, for their part, stated that there is ‘no risk of an epidemic’ in Siberia following the death, and have instead denounced the spread of ‘false information’. ‘The media are spreading a lot of news, and the vast majority of what the media are reporting on this situation is false information,’ explained Putin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, commenting on the WHO’s request for information.