Andy Burnham has given an update following reports of a plague death in Russia. A 28-year-old woman, later identified as Darya Shipilova, died from pneumonia of "undetermined" origin after potentially being exposed to the plague. She worked at the Anti-Plague Institute in Siberia.
Media reports in Russia said some 200 people were placed in isolation following her death. The death sparked concerns of a potential outbreak and another pandemic, just years since the world returned to seeming normality in the aftermath of Covid.
Prime Minister's response
British Prime Minister Burnham said he did not want to "alarm" the public and that officials would "monitor the situation closely". He addressed the concerns while being quizzed by reporters during his visit to Berlin for his first official European bilateral visit.
"Obviously, we take the greatest of care in relation to any issue that relates to our biosecurity, and at this point in time, while we would monitor the situation closely, I wouldn’t want to say anything further," he said. "We certainly wouldn’t want to alarm people. We will do what we can to request that the right steps are being taken, and that’s the approach we’ll take."
UK and Russian assessments
The UK Health Security Agency said plague is not found in the UK and that the probability of a case occurring in a person returning to the country is "considered very low".
Russia's public health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor did not link the fatal case to the highly-transmissible pneumonic plague, saying the lab worker contracted pneumonia of "unknown" origin and that "extensive" testing found no evidence her illness was caused by any of the pathogens she worked with.
International reaction
"We don't understand how she was infected," said Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO director of Epidemic and Pandemic Management. "We need information in a timely way. We need regular information. We need answers to the follow up of the questions that we have asked. We have posed these questions to our colleagues in the Russian Federation. In fairness, they have responded. We've gone back with more questions."
US President Donald Trump said he would discuss the issues ahead of his phonecall with Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday, the despot's birthday. "They're sharing it a little bit with our people. We expect them to share it a lot with our people," Trump said.
