China breaks silence on plague, says it is in contact with Russia | Today’s news

Beijing has made its first official statement on a suspected case of pneumonic plague in Siberia, saying it is working with Russia as health concerns grow around the world.

“China and Russia maintain close communication and cooperation in the prevention and control of infectious diseases, including the plague,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Kuo Jiakun said Tuesday when asked whether Moscow had informed Beijing of the incident.

The brief remarks, made during China’s week-long public holiday, follow the death last week of a worker at an anti-plague research institute in Russia’s Irkutsk region, which led to the alleged tracing of nearly 200 contacts. Coverage of the incident was limited in Chinese state media.

More than a month ago, the institution in Irkutsk concluded an emergency response agreement with China to deal with outbreaks of infectious diseases. Russian and Chinese participants also discussed how to monitor and control the spread of diseases in their border regions.

The Irkutsk region lies north of Mongolia and does not directly border China, but the local capital is a major hub with frequent flights and rail links to Chinese cities. The Chinese consulate in Irkutsk did not respond to a request for comment.

A 28-year-old laboratory technician died after contracting severe pneumonia. Unconfirmed local reports state that the researcher may have been exposed to the bacteria that causes the plague after the test tube was broken.

Plague is one of the world’s most feared diseases, responsible for pandemics that have killed tens of millions of people. Today, however, human cases are rare and can usually be treated with antibiotics.

US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he had a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin scheduled to discuss the case “very soon”.

With the help of Yanping Li.

This article was generated from an automated news agency source without text modification.