"Staff Member Dies After Breaking Pathogen Test Tube"... Global Tension

[Anchor]

A suspected pathogen leakage accident has occurred at a plague research institute in Russia. An employee who accidentally broke a test tube containing pathogens died of pneumonia, and the world is closely monitoring the situation.

Reporter Kim Young-a has the details.

[Reporter]

Russian authorities announced that a researcher who was hospitalized with pneumonia following a pathogen leakage accident at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute on the 25th has died.

The researcher was hospitalized after showing symptoms of severe pneumonia after accidentally breaking a test tube containing plague pathogens.

The researcher died between the night of October 1 and the early hours of October 2, three days after hospitalization.

The hospital stated that plague-related pathogens were not identified in samples collected from the researcher.

However, local media outlets continue to report that the researcher may have died from pneumonic plague, which can be transmitted from person to person.

Russian health authorities have closed the hospitalization facility where the researcher was treated and are conducting additional investigations on all employees at the institute where the accident occurred.

[Dmitry Peskov / Kremlin Spokesperson: We should not be swayed by rumors or speculation, but instead follow official announcements from health authorities as our guide.]

Pneumonic plague can spread between people through respiratory droplets and is a disease with a high fatality rate.

As it has the potential to spread rapidly across the globe, the international community is keeping a close eye on the situation.

[Trump / U.S. President: In the past, pneumonia was much easier to treat. But microorganisms and bacteria have become much stronger than before. We will help them. We will help as much as we can.]

The World Health Organization (WHO) has also urgently dispatched officials to Russia to begin an investigation.

The WHO stated that, based on the information confirmed so far, "the public health risk to the general public appears to be low."

However, it added that it will reassess the risk as soon as additional information is confirmed.

[Video Editing: Jung Sung-hoon]
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.