WHO questions Russian worker's death
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The World Health Organization was seeking answers from Russia about a laboratory worker’s suspected plague death, while health experts said scant information left a lab accident possible.
by Devi Sridhar
Reposted by Devi Sridhar, Devi Sridhar
As a scientist, here's what worries me about the suspected Russian plague victim | Devi Sridhar
Russia’s silence over the death of a lab worker underlines that pandemic preparedness amounts to nothing if information on threats is withheld In pandemic preparedness work , scientists like to focus on the technical challenges: identifying pathogens, diagnosing infections, understanding their effects and developing vaccines and treatments. Each step promises progress through human innovation, investment and planning. The World Health Organization (WHO), for example, brings experts together to identify and prioritise emerging disease threats and collect the evidence needed to prepare for them. But preparedness depends on more than scientific innovation. As the past week has shown, politics is the elephant in the room in all of this. No one could have predicted we would be talking about pneumonic plague, and that the death of a single lab worker in Russia would cause global headlines. It might feel like an overreaction: the WHO deals with thousands of potential disease signals worldwide every month . But the circumstances of this case are unusual given the lack of transparency from Russian authorities on what happened - and ongoing concern about biological weapons research. Continue reading. . .
It would be "too far" if Ukraine targeted a girls school and killed hundreds of kids ... and then blamed a map instead of apologizing and paying compensation. 😏
It would be "too far" if Ukraine targeted a girls school and killed hundreds of kids ... and then blamed a map instead of apologizing and paying compensation. 😏