Official says WHO doesn't know exactly how a lab worker in Russia died in plague case

A top World Health Organization official stated on Wednesday that the agency does not know the exact cause of death for a laboratory employee in Siberia who died following an incident involving plague on October 2. Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO director of Epidemic and Pandemic Management, noted that the agency lacks information regarding the specific causative agent behind the woman's death.

In response to the incident, the WHO has formally urged Russian authorities to provide more detailed information concerning the circumstances of the worker's death and the ongoing plague concerns associated with the facility.