Azerbaijan’s Health Ministry saw no need for additional restrictions

Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Health said its Center for Control of Particularly Dangerous Infections was monitoring reports of suspected plague in the Irkutsk region. In its assessment on 5 October, additional restrictions in Azerbaijan were not needed. APA (Azəri-Press Agency, an Azerbaijani news agency) published the response to its inquiry.

According to the response, sanitary and epidemiological controls on arrivals from Russia followed existing requirements. The ministry said it continually assessed the situation and could strengthen measures promptly if necessary.

Samples from a suspected case could be tested at the centre’s laboratory. The ministry said the centre had the necessary equipment and supplies. This described testing readiness, not a detected patient.

The ministry also described the country’s situation as stable, said no plague infections had been recorded in the past 50 years and advised reliance on official information. The historical figure is reported as the ministry’s statement; an independent registry covering that period was not reviewed.

The agency’s Russian version carries the same response. The English article’s byline is Gunay Elshan. These are two language versions of one ministry reaction. The responding ministry employee’s name and a signed original response are not provided in the reviewed text. The report does not confirm Darya Shipilova’s diagnosis.

Response published 5 October; added to research 8 October. Russian version: 15:50:05 UTC+4, 11:50:05 UTC (Coordinated Universal Time), 19:50:05 Irkutsk; English version: 15:52:00 UTC+4, 11:52:00 UTC, 19:52:00 Irkutsk, according to page metadata. Exact response receipt time unestablished.