US 'watching closely' Russian plague lab worker's death, Rubio says
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington is closely monitoring the death of a worker at a Siberian plague research institute, though he sees no cause for alarm. Russian officials insist there is no emergency.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed that Washington is closely following developments after a staff member died at an anti-plague institute in Irkutsk, Siberia. He said there were concerns the case could involve pneumonic plague spreading further, but stressed there was no reason for alarm at this stage.
Irkutsk governor Igor Kobzev listed the cause of death as "pneumonia of undetermined etiology." Citing Russia's consumer and health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor, he said no microorganisms linked to the woman's work were found in her biological samples.
Unverified reports had suggested she may have been infected either by breaking a test tube containing the pathogen or during a trip to a region where plague occurs naturally among wild rodents. Kobzev said no other institute staff have sought medical attention since her death. A Rospotrebnadzor biosafety team inspected the Anti-Plague Institute of Siberia and the Far East and found no emergency situation.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov urged the public to ignore rumours and trust only Rospotrebnadzor's official statements. Russian media previously reported that nearly 200 people who had contact with the deceased were being monitored as a precaution.
The woman, identified by Russian media only by the first name Daria and in her late twenties, had recently travelled to the Buryatia region bordering Mongolia, where the plague bacterium Yersinia pestis — the same pathogen behind the medieval Black Death — occurs among local rodent populations such as marmots.
Dr Simon Clarke, a cellular microbiology specialist at the University of Reading, said pneumonic plague is almost always fatal without treatment but responds to antibiotics. He noted it can spread between people, explaining the concern, but dismissed comparisons to Covid-style lockdowns. Asked whether the pathogen could have military research applications, he acknowledged the possibility but considered accidental infection the more likely explanation.
