Russia informed the World Health Organization (WHO) about the death of an employee of the anti-plague institute in Siberia in accordance with established procedures. This was stated on Wednesday by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who accused the media of spreading false information about the case. His words were quoted by “Reuters“, quoted by News.bg.
Peskov's comment was in response to information from ABC News, according to which the United States has issued an official diplomatic protest over the way the Russian authorities acted after the death of the laboratory employee. According to the media, Washington has called on Moscow to ensure greater transparency in the case.
The employee of the Siberian and Far Eastern Research Anti-Plague Institute in Irkutsk fell ill and died last week under still unclear circumstances. The case led to the quarantine of dozens of contact persons, and the head of Rospotrebnadzor, Anna Popova, was sent to the Irkutsk region.
According to Peskov, most of the publications on the case are untrue. He said that the public should trust the information disseminated by Rospotrebnadzor.
On Tuesday, the Russian service reported that no cases of plague had been identified among people who had been in contact with the deceased woman. Local residents also said that the measures taken have hardly disrupted their usual way of life.
Meanwhile, the WHO announced that it had requested additional information from the Russian authorities about the cause of the severe pneumonia and the pathogen that prompted the anti-epidemic measures.
The organization also requested data in connection with media reports about a second laboratory employee with pneumonia of unknown origin.
Peskov also announced that a telephone conversation between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump is currently not planned. A day earlier, Trump said that he would talk to Putin about the case “very soon”.
At the moment, Russian authorities continue to claim that no plague has been identified among the contacts. However, the cause of the severe pneumonia that led to the employee's death has not yet been publicly established.