The World Health Organization has said the risk of an epidemic in Russia is low after the sudden death of a lab technician who worked at a plague research institute in Siberia.
Darya Shipilova, who was 28, died last week, two days after falling ill. Russian media reports suggested she may have become infected after an accident at her workplace, where dangerous pathogens are kept and studied.
Russian authorities have downplayed the incident and say Shipilova died of "pneumonia of an unknown aetiology." Strict quarantine measures have been imposed at the research centre in the city of Irkutsk and in several neighbouring hospitals.
Christian Lindmeier, a WHO spokesperson, said on Tuesday that there was no sign of a wider outbreak. "All of the patients' contacts have reportedly been identified and are being monitored for illness, and none to date have shown symptoms of illness," he said.
Russian officials were still investigating whether viral pneumonic plague caused Shipilova's death but the WHO had assessed the health risk as "moderate to low" for Irkutsk, "low" for the rest of Russia and "very low" for Europe, he said.
According to Russian media, 60 of Shipilova's colleagues have been locked in the institute where she worked since Friday.