Russia keeps a tight lid on suspected case of pneumonic plague as global concerns mount

Russian authorities are keeping a tight lid on information about last week’s suspicious death of a lab worker in Siberia that has been surrounded by secrecy and claims that it could have been caused by pneumonic plague. While the case has raised global concerns, Russian state TV and other national state-controlled media have steered clear of the subject. Some state-sponsored news outlets withdrew earlier reports about the case, which has topped independent online news outlets.

Russian state TV and other national state-controlled media have steered clear of the subject. GENEVA (AP) — A top official with the World Health Organization said Wednesday the U.N. health agency doesn’t know how a lab employee in Siberia died amid concerns about plague, and she called on Russia to provide more information.

2 in a hospital in Shelekhov, a town just outside Irkutsk.Officials have quarantined a hospital and are monitoring the contacts of the worker, who died of what unconfirmed media reports said could have been pneumonic plague — a less common but severe form of plague that can spread from person to person.Moscow informed the World Health Organization that no case of plague has been registered in the Irkutsk region in southeastern Siberia.President Donald Trump said Tuesday he would speak about the issue “very soon” with Russian President Vladimir Putin and report about it “probably tomorrow.” Wednesday is the Kremlin leader's 74th birthday.Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday that a Putin-Trump call hasn’t been set yet but could be organized quickly.Trump said the U.S. intelligence community was saying about the case, Trump said the U.S. is in “very deep discussions” on the topic.The WHO prods Russia for more informationIn response to the WHO’s request to clarify the situation in view of media reports alleging pneumonic plague as the cause of the lab worker's death, Russia has declared that no case of plague had recently been registered in Irkutsk oblast, the U.N.

organization said.Russian health authorities reported a full range of preventive measures had been carried out — including tracing of the dead woman’s contacts, medical monitoring an…