Secrecy may have cost Russian virus scientist her life
A Russian scientist at a former Soviet biological weapons laboratory in Siberia has died after accidentally sticking herself with a needle laced with Ebola, the deadly virus for which there is no vaccine or treatment.
The accident occurred on May 5 at the State Research Centre of Virology and Biotechnology - known as Vector - but it was not reported to the World Health Organisation until last week, raising concerns about safety and secrecy at the centre, which in Soviet times specialised in turning deadly viruses into biological weapons.
Although the centre had isolated the scientist to contain any potential spread of the disease and there is no requirement that accidents involving Ebola be reported, the delay meant that WHO scientists could not provide prompt advice on her treatment that might have saved her life.
Vector officials said the scientist, Antonina Presnyakova, was working on an Ebola vaccine, but have declined to identify who was financing the research or to discuss its specific nature.
[Vector is one of two repositories of the deadly smallpox virus - the other is in Atlanta.]
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