Hong Kong steps up Russia arrival checks after Siberian lab worker’s death

Hong Kong will step up health surveillance measures for arrivals after a laboratory worker at an anti-plague research institute in Russia died from pneumonia, but authorities have stressed the risk to residents remains low.

According to World Health Organization (WHO) information provided by Russian authorities, there was no evidence of ongoing transmission, the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) said on Monday.

Russian authorities previously stated ‌that the worker at the Irkutsk Antiplague Research Institute in Siberia had died from pneumonia, but that the origin of the infection ⁠had yet to ⁠be determined.

The centre said it had not received any reports of residents or travellers arriving in Hong Kong from Russia with cases of pneumonia of unknown origin in recent months.

“The CHP assesses that the immediate public health impact to Hong Kong is low. For the sake of prudence, the CHP has implemented a series of control and prevention measures to guard against imported cases,” a spokesman said.

These included arranging for Port Health Division officers to conduct temperature checks for passengers arriving on flights from Russia, as well as conducting health assessments for arrivals exhibiting symptoms and transferring them to public hospitals for further testing.

The department will also display signage and broadcast announcements in the airport arrival area and through airlines to urge passengers who have visited Irkutsk Oblast in Siberia within the past 14 days to declare their travel history.

It will also provide the Airport Authority and airlines with the latest information regarding the case, and urge airlines to remind their flight crews to strictly enforce established prevention and control measures if they identify suspected cases on their flights.

The centre will also send letters to all doctors and hospitals in Hong Kong, reminding them to remain highly vigilant and to strengthen surveillance. Any patient who has visited the area within 14 days before the onset of symptoms and has developed pneumonia of an undetermined origin must immediately report to the centre for further testing.

“The CHP will continue to closely monitor the latest developments, respond swiftly and strictly guard against imported cases to safeguard public health,” the spokesman said.

Russian media reported earlier this month that the 28-year-old laboratory technician working for the institute in Siberia’s Irkutsk region had died of pneumonic plague that could have come from a broken test tube. But Russian officials stressed that postmortem tests had not detected the disease.

Pneumonic plague, which spreads between people and causes severe lung infections, is highly treatable if detected early.

The centre said that according to the latest information from the WHO, citing data provided by Russian authorities, no plague cases had been recorded recently in Irkutsk Oblast, testing of the deceased’s contacts found no high-threat pathogens, and there were no further cases of severe pneumonia linked to this case.

The Russian authorities reported that no biosecurity incidents had occurred at the laboratory, and quarantine measures were instituted in hospital where the patient was treated, according to the centre.