Russia tells WHO there are no plague cases in Siberian city

Russian authorities told the World Health Organisation (WHO) on ‌Tuesday that it has no cases of plague in the city of ​Irkutsk in Siberia, where a laboratory worker at a plague research institute died last week, according to a spokesperson for the ​UN health agency.Moscow, which is required under global health rules ⁠to respond to WHO requests within 24 hours, previously ‌told ‌the ​WHO authorities were investigating whether pneumonic plague caused the death of Daria Shipilova (28).“No case of this dangerous ⁠disease has been ​recorded in the city of ​Irkutsk, Russian Federation,” Russian authorities said in an official ‌response to a WHO ​request, read out by WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier at ⁠a Geneva press briefing.They ⁠also ​told the UN agency they have identified the people in contact with Shipilova and that test results for dangerous infectious pathogens were negative.READ MOREReuters could not immediately establish if this meant that they had also tested Shipilova ‌and whether they could ⁠rule out plague in her case. The Russian diplomatic mission to the UN in Geneva ‌did not immediately respond to a request for comment.The WHO has ​previously said that the risk of ​plague to the general population appeared to be low. – Reuters