MOSCOW, Oct. 9 (Xinhua) -- The Russian city of Irkutsk is lifting preventive measures following the death of a laboratory worker from pneumonia of unknown origin, as the epidemiological situation in the Irkutsk region remains stable and poses no health risks.
All preventive quarantine measures have been completed in Russia's Irkutsk region following the death of an employee of the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East from pneumonia of unknown origin, regional governor Igor Kobzev said Thursday.
The 28-year-old laboratory worker, who died in the city of Shelekhov on Oct. 2, had been vaccinated and was immune to the dangerous infections she worked with, Kobzev said.
In a statement, Russia's Federal Service for the Oversight of Consumer Protection and Welfare (Rospotrebnadzor) said that more than 90 percent of people who had come into contact with the deceased patient had completed medical observation as of Wednesday, with no health abnormalities associated with infectious diseases detected.
Nearly 5,000 laboratory tests found no dangerous pathogenic microorganisms, the statement said. Two commissions responsible for overseeing compliance with biosafety requirements had also confirmed that no incidents had occurred at the institute.
Rospotrebnadzor has notified the World Health Organization (WHO) of the case in compliance with the International Health Regulations. Comprehensive preventive measures were promptly implemented in accordance with relevant health legislation after the illness was reported.
"On Tuesday, the Russian Federation responded, saying that no case of plague had recently been reported in the Irkutsk oblast, and that they had placed about 200 contacts in quarantine," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said earlier in a social media post, adding that the WHO has been actively following up on the case since reports of the death first emerged. ■