Russian lab worker dies from pneumonic plague; WHO seeks details

A worker at a Russian plague research laboratory in Siberia has died, prompting the World Health Organization to request more information from Russia, though officials say contacts tested negative for pneumonic plague. Pneumonic plague is the most virulent form of plague, a serious lung infection caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, with symptoms including shortness of breath, chest pain, and coughing blood. It can spread human-to-human through infected droplets from coughing, requiring close contact, or develop from other plague types. Global plague cases range from 1,000 to 3,000 annually, mostly bubonic, with reservoirs in rodents across Africa, Asia, and the Americas. Untreated pneumonic plague is nearly always fatal, but early antibiotic treatment is effective, and the risk to the UK population is deemed "very low."