US ‘LOOKING VERY STRONGLY’ AT REPORTED PLAGUE CASE IN RUSSIA, SAYS TRUMP

Tue 06 October 2026:

President Donald Trump said Monday the US is closely monitoring a reported case of pneumonic plague in Russia and pledged to provide assistance.

“We’re looking at it very strongly. We just heard about it,” Trump told reporters at the White House before departing for a campaign rally in Nebraska.

“Years ago you could treat pneumonia easier, and the microbes and the germs have gotten stronger,” he said. “But we’ll help them. We’ll help them.”

The US State Department said earlier on Monday that it is monitoring reports of a fatal case of suspected pneumonic plague in Russia’s Irkutsk region with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other agencies.

Russian authorities have said the case involved pneumonia of unknown etiology and that no accidents were detected at a local anti-plague research institute.

A worker in full protective gear is filmed by residents in Shelekhov in Russia’s Irkutsk region. The local hospital was partially shut following the death of 28-year-old Daria Shipilova.east2west news

No other cases of staff from the plague institute seeking medical attention since the lab technician’s death had been reported, Irkutsk governor Igor Kobzev said, quoting Russia’s consumer and health watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor.

The watchdog said a biological safety team had inspected the Anti-Plague Institute of Siberia and the Far East in Irkutsk and found no emergency situation there.

Daria Shipilova, a 28-year-old laboratory assistant at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute, was the first reported fatality.

She reportedly told medical staff that she had accidentally broken a test tube containing live bacteria while collecting samples for testing, according to news outlet Lyudi Baikala, or People of Baikal.

She first fell ill while on an expedition with other workers near Russia’s eastern border with Mongolia.

She was hospitalized in Shelekhov on Tuesday with symptoms of severe pneumonia, placed on a ventilator and died Thursday, according to reports.

Meanwhile, the regional Gov. Igor Kobzev declined to identify the illness, referring to it only as “a dangerous infectious disease” — and canceled all public events in the region.

Kobzev urged the public to remain calm after meeting with Popova to coordinate emergency containment measures.

Daria Shipilova, 28, a laboratory assistant at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia, died of an illness.Daria Shipilova/e2w

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov urged people not to “listen to various rumours” but “rely on Rospotrebnadzor’s official statements” instead.

Russian media reported last week that nearly 200 people known to have had contact with the dead woman were under medical observation as a precaution.

__________________________________________________________________________

https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaAtNxX8fewmiFmN7N22

__________________________________________________________________________

Rubio says Russian biological lab incident not ‘cause for alarm’

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Monday that an infection incident at a Russian biological research facility was no “cause for alarm,” confirming that American authorities are monitoring developments closely.

“I do not think it is cause for alarm, but it is cause for focus and a cause to just keep an eye on,” Rubio told reporters ahead of a diplomatic tour of Europe that includes stops in Iceland, Greece, and Portugal.

Daria Shipilova, 28, a laboratory assistant at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East, is pictured in Irkutsk.Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute/e2w

Rubio said Washington is relying on information provided by Moscow indicating that a research worker contracted an infection, prompting local authorities to introduce a quarantine to contain any potential transmission.

While noting that travel between the US and Russia remains heavily restricted, Rubio warned that pathogens escaping containment can spread rapidly, adding: “So we are watching and monitoring it closely.”

Anti-plague lab worker Daria Shipilova, 28, died from pneumonia of an unknown cause in Russia. The health watchdog has insisted the region is stable.Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute/e2w

The plague bacterium or Yersinia pestis, which killed up to half the population of Europe in the 14th Century when it was known as the Black Death, is found among rodents such as marmots in the area.

It was in response to an outbreak in the 1920s that the Anti-Plague Institute of Siberia and the Far East was founded just over 100 years ago.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), pneumonic plague has a very short incubation period – sometimes just 24 hours – and can be fatal, if not diagnosed and treated early.

People can be infected through: