Pakistan Says Risk of Plague Spreading From Russia Is Very Low

Pakistan’s federal health ministry has assessed the risk of plague entering the country from Russia as very low, following concerns over a suspected case in Siberia.

A health ministry official said Border Health Services had alerted authorities at all entry points, while the National Institute of Health (NIH) was equipped to diagnose the disease if required.

The Director General of Health confirmed that the ministry and NIH were monitoring the situation. However, the official noted that the World Health Organization (WHO) did not yet have complete information about the suspected case.

The concerns arose after Darya Shipilova, a 28-year-old laboratory worker at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East, died on October 2.

Russian authorities initially placed around 200 people who had been in contact with Shipilova under quarantine. Officials later reported that approximately 90 percent of them had been released after nearly 5,000 laboratory tests found no evidence of plague among her contacts.

Russia’s health regulator said on Wednesday that there was no risk of an epidemic and that precautionary measures were being reduced.

Shipilova’s death has not been confirmed as a case of plague. Although a regional governor initially suggested that she might have contracted the disease, Russia’s health watchdog later said she had died from an unidentified form of pneumonia.

Plague is a bacterial disease caused by Yersinia pestis. It can spread to humans through bites from infected fleas or exposure to infectious respiratory particles. Early diagnosis and appropriate antibiotic treatment are important for managing the infection.

Pakistani health authorities have indicated that the risk remains very low while monitoring arrangements and diagnostic capabilities are in place.