Information is insufficient for a full risk assessment

The World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations health agency, lacked the full picture of the Irkutsk incident needed to assess risk. Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said this on October 7, listing questions for the Russian side.

The organization requested detailed test results, an explanation of the grounds for quarantine measures and information about contacts’ health. A report about a second employee with pneumonia required separate verification: a plague diagnosis had not been confirmed for that employee.

Russia received the first international request on October 3 and responded on October 6. The Russian response said no plague cases had been recorded. This investigation has not obtained the complete response with its laboratory attachments.

The following day in Hong Kong and Irkutsk time, RTHK (Radio Television Hong Kong), Hong Kong’s public broadcaster, relayed this position. The publication is dated October 8 at 01:44. It reflects continuing questions, rather than a new clinical result.

Meanwhile, Rospotrebnadzor, Russia’s Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing, announced completion of preventive measures. Its account of the international organization’s position and the director-general’s remarks about the incomplete assessment are kept distinct.