USAupdated 1h ago2 min read
Donald Trump Offers U.S. Assistance To Russia After Siberia Institute Of Plague Research Death
Trump said the United States is ready to assist Russia after a plague institute death. The death occurred among a laboratory worker at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute; dozens quarantined.
Trump offers U.S. help
President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House that the United States will provide assistance to Russia after the death of an employee at a laboratory affiliated with the Institute of Plague Research in Siberia.
Trump described the outbreak as a “major problem for Russia” while he left the White House en route to Nebraska.
The U.S. State Department said it is monitoring the situation with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other agencies.
Russian authorities imposed a quarantine on dozens of people after an employee became ill and died under undisclosed circumstances, and the head of Russia’s health surveillance body was sent to the Irkutsk region.
Rubio urges focus
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States is closely watching and monitoring the developments in Russia, adding, “I don’t think it’s cause for alarm, but it is cause for focus and a cause to just keep an eye on it.” The World Health Organization said based on unofficial information it received that the “public health risk to the general population appears to be low.”
Russian authorities quarantined a hospital and traced contacts of an employee at a plague research institute in the remote Siberian region of Irkutsk who died of a suspected pneumonic plague infection. Russian officials also stressed that postmortem tests had not detected the disease, while Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters to rely on Rospotrebnadzor’s official statements rather than “rumours and speculations.”
Quarantine, uncertainty, scrutiny
Russian authorities in Irkutsk identified dozens of people who came into contact with the woman and placed them under medical observation, while Maxim Modin said the people in quarantine had not shown any signs of infection as of Oct. 5.
The Washington Post said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the State Department, the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, and other agencies were working to learn more about the reported death, with officials cautioning that much about the situation remains unknown.
The Washington Post also quoted a U.S. health official saying, “We don’t have a lot of intel,” and pointed to the complication of Russian officials’ hesitation to share information.
Paul Friedrichs said Russia should bring in experts from the World Health Organization, the European Union or the U.S. to help clarify the situation, adding, “first reports are usually wrong and Russia has historically not been particularly forthcoming about what actually happened.”