Russia plague: How great is the global risk? Maybe low, but infectious disease experts want more data

Last week, an employee who worked at a Russian anti-plague institute died, possibly from an unspecified form of plague. This led to the quarantine of nearly 200 people in Russia's Irkutsk region, located in eastern Siberia, according to local news outlets.Following these reports, concerns are circulating about what exactly caused the death and quarantine — and just how worried the rest of the world should be.The World Health Organization says the incident presents a low risk globally of pathogen spread, and a moderate risk for the nearby area, Dr. Nahid Bhadelia, founding director of Boston University's Center on Emerging Infectious Diseases, told CNBC's "Squawk On the Street" on Tuesday. But some infectious disease experts say it's impossible to determine the risk yet, citing a lack of transparency from Russian authorities."The risk to the wider public is uncertain ... I wouldn't call it low, medium or high because we don't know the information to answer that," says Dr. Raj Panjabi, a Harvard University physician and former White House Biosecurity Director to President Joe Biden.Typically, when a pathogen causes a death or quarantine, local public health authorities test the patho...