US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has urged Russia to provide more information about the death of a 28-year-old laboratory worker at a plague research centre in Siberia.
The woman, identified by Russian media as Darya Shipilova, reportedly worked at the Anti-Plague Institute in Irkutsk. Her death has triggered questions about the circumstances surrounding her illness.
Russian officials said they are investigating the cause of death and have ruled out pneumonic plague among people who came into contact with her.
“I think it’s incumbent upon Russia to obviously share more information with the world,” Rubio told reporters, adding that the US was monitoring the situation closely.
Reports said nearly 200 people in the Irkutsk region were placed under observation following the woman’s death.
Unconfirmed reports suggested she may have fallen ill after breaking a test tube containing a pathogen or following a field trip to an area where plague occurs naturally among wild rodents.
However, Russia’s health watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, said the woman died from “pneumonia of an undetermined etiology.”
In a statement read by World Health Organisation spokesman Christian Lindmeier, Russia said no case of plague had been recorded in Irkutsk.
The statement added that all contacts of the deceased had been identified and were being monitored, with none showing symptoms of illness.
Rubio said the US had measures available to assist Russia if the situation proved more serious than currently reported.
Rospotrebnadzor responded that Russia was also ready to assist the US in dealing with infectious disease outbreaks.
US President Donald Trump said he was closely following the case, while US agencies, including the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, the State Department and the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, are reportedly coordinating the US response.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia was relying on Rospotrebnadzor’s findings and described offers of mutual assistance as positive.
Rospotrebnadzor also dismissed an online document claiming that special anti-plague measures had been introduced, saying the document did not come from an official source and was false.
Pneumonic plague is caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis and can spread from person to person. However, health experts say it can be treated with antibiotics when detected early.
