Full transcript
0:00The World Health Organization is calling
0:02for transparency and more information
0:05from Russia after the death of a young
0:07laboratory worker. Darya Shepalova
0:10worked at the anti-plague institute in
0:12Siberia. It's not clear whether her
0:14death was caused by plague. Russia's
0:16health watchdog said the 28-year-old
0:18died from pneumonia of unknown causes.
0:22Well, globally, there are between 1,000
0:24and 3,000 cases of plague every year and
0:28there have been more than 400 deaths in
0:30the last 6 years. The UK Health Security
0:33Agency said it was seeking further
0:35information, although it added that the
0:37risk to the UK population is currently
0:40very low. Our Russia editor, Steve
0:42Rosenberg, has the story.
0:45>> This is Shelekhov.
0:47Not the most famous town in Russia,
0:50but a woman's death here has attracted
0:52global attention.
0:54She was a lab worker at this institute,
0:5710 miles away in Irkutsk, where they
1:00research a deadly disease,
1:02plague.
1:03She'd fallen ill and died.
1:06As a precaution, dozens of staff were
1:08placed in quarantine.
1:12In Moscow, the Kremlin spokesman's been
1:14commenting.
1:17I ask him, "President Trump says this is
1:20a big problem for Russia and has offered
1:22to help.
1:24Your reaction?"
1:27"Offers of mutual assistance," Dmitry
1:29Peskov says, "are always good."
1:34But when I suggest a lack of official
1:36information is fueling rumor and
1:38speculation, he hits back.
1:43"Our public health watchdog," he says,
1:45"is providing comprehensive
1:47information."
1:49So, what are the Russians saying?
1:52According to official information here,
1:54the lab worker died not from the plague,
1:57but from pneumonia of unknown origin.
2:00And no further infections of a similar
2:02nature have been detected. In other
2:04words, the message from Moscow is
2:06there's nothing to worry about. There's
2:08nothing to see here.
2:11Washington still isn't sure about that.
2:13>> It's incumbent upon Russia to obviously
2:16share more information with the world.
2:17That's what they should do. That's what
2:18we hope they will do. And the more we
2:20can learn about what happened, then I
2:22the the better all of us can be in a
2:24position of responding.
2:26>> In Irkutsk, where the plague institute
2:28is, people aren't panicking.
2:32"I'm not afraid." he says. "People who
2:34were in contact with the infected
2:36individual have isolated and they're
2:38okay."
2:40Russians are hoping they're being given
2:42accurate information
2:44and that they'll stay safe.
2:46Steve Rosenberg, BBC News, Moscow.