(BSS/AFP) - The World Health Organization said Wednesday it could not produce a full risk assessment as it did not yet have the whole picture from Russia on the suspected plague death of a laboratory technician.

The WHO, the United States and the European Union have urged Moscow to provide more information following the death of the 28-year-old woman in Irkutsk in Siberia.

"We don`t yet have the full picture of this event and we`re not able to conduct a full risk assessment," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a press conference.

"Timely, complete and transparent information sharing under the international regulations is essential to clarify conflicting reports and enable an accurate assessment of potential public and risks."

Tedros said the anti-plague laboratory worker died after being hospitalised with severe pneumonia, with initial media reports suggesting pneumonia plague following an accidental lab exposure.

"WHO is aware that the Russian government held a meeting on October 2 because they suspected a resident of the Irkutsk oblast had contracted a dangerous infection," he added.

Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO`s director of epidemic and pandemic management, added: "We don`t understand how she was infected."

The UN health agency wanted to know "what she was infected with, number one; and secondly, once we know that, how she was infected?"

If pneumonic plague "is ruled out, what did she actually die from?", she said.

Tedros said he also wanted more clarification from Moscow following media reports of "a second employee with pneumonia of undetermined cause".

"We assess any reporting from the community," he told reporters.

"We have actually received this information from two media outlets.

"We asked Russia to respond to that... we`re waiting for an answer, because any reporting that comes, we cannot ignore it," he said, adding "I hope we will get an answer to that, formally."