Federal Health Minister Mustafa Kamal has said the risk of plague spreading to Pakistan is very low following a suspected case in Siberia, Russia.
In a statement on Thursday, he said Border Health Services had been alerted at all entry points, while the National Institute of Health (NIH) was fully equipped to diagnose the disease.
The director general of health also confirmed that the Ministry of Health and the NIH were monitoring the situation.
The concern arose after a laboratory worker, 28-year-old Darya Shipilova, died on October 2. Russian authorities quarantined around 200 people who had contact with her, but nearly 5,000 laboratory tests detected no plague cases among them.
Russia’s health regulator said there was no risk of an epidemic, adding that Shipilova had died from an unidentified form of pneumonia. Her death has not been confirmed as plague-related.
Plague is a bacterial infection that can spread through infected flea bites and respiratory particles. It is treatable with antibiotics if diagnosed early.
