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Marco Rubio said the US had “measures” available to help Russia if the plague situation proved more serious than Moscow had indicated
US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. (IMAGE: REUTERS FILE)
The United States is closely watching the situation in Russia following the death of a 28-year-old lab worker at a plague research centre in Siberia. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has urged Moscow to share more information about the case, which has triggered speculation over the circumstances of the woman’s death.
Russian officials have said they are still investigating the cause of death. They have also said that people who came into contact with the woman tested negative for pneumonic plague.
“I think it’s incumbent upon Russia to obviously share more information with the world,” Rubio told reporters. “We’re watching it very closely, hour by hour.”
Reports first emerged on Friday that almost 200 people had been placed under observation in Siberia’s Irkutsk region following the woman’s death.
What happened to the lab worker?
The lab worker was named in Russian media as Darya Shipilova. She had reportedly fallen ill a couple of days before her death. Reports suggested that she may have fallen ill after breaking a test tube containing the pathogen or after a field trip to an area where plague occurs naturally among wild rodents.
Russian officials, however, have played down those reports. Russia’s health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor said Shipilova had died of “pneumonia of an undetermined etiology”.
At A Glance
A 28-year-old lab worker died at a plague research center in Siberia.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged Moscow to share more information about the case.
Almost 200 people were placed under observation in Siberia’s Irkutsk region.
The lab worker was identified in Russian media as Darya Shipilova.
Russia stated that no case of plague had been recorded in Irkutsk.
In a statement read out on Tuesday by World Health Organization spokesman Christian Lindmeier, Russia said no case of plague had been recorded in Irkutsk. “No case of this dangerous disease has been recorded in the city of Irkutsk,” the statement said. Russia also said all contacts of the patients had been identified and were being monitored.
“All of the patients’ contacts have been reportedly been identified and are being monitored for illness, and none to date have shown symptoms of illness,” the statement added.
US offers help as speculation grows
The case led to a back and forth between Russia and the United States on Tuesday, amid questions over whether the disease could spread beyond Russia.
Speaking during a visit to Iceland, Rubio said the US had “measures” available to help Russia if the situation proved more serious than Moscow had indicated.
Rospotrebnadzor responded by offering assistance to the United States. “The Russian Federation is ready to assist the US in combating infectious disease outbreaks,” it said in a statement.
US President Donald Trump also echoed Rubio’s comments, saying he was looking “very strongly” at the case. According to the Washington Post, the US Centers for Disease Control and Preventionthe State Department and the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response are working on the US response.
Russia says ‘disease not detected’
Asked about the death following Rubio’s remarks, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov cited the findings of Rospotrebnadzor. Asked about the Russian offer of assistance to the US, Peskov said it was a “good thing when mutual assistance is offered”.
Rospotrebnadzor also sought to counter speculation surrounding a document circulating online that allegedly detailed special anti-plague measures.
“We wish to clarify that the document and information in question do not originate from official sources and are untrue,” the watchdog said on Telegram.
Why is pneumonic plague a concern?
The plague bacterium, or Yersinia pestis, is found among rodents such as marmots in the region. The disease killed up to half the population of Europe in the 14th century, when it was known as the Black Death.
The Anti-Plague Institute of Siberia and the Far East was founded more than 100 years ago in response to an outbreak in the 1920s. Dr Simon Clarke, associate professor in cellular microbiology at the University of Reading, told BBC Radio 4’s PM programme that the pneumonic form of Yersinia pestis was nearly always fatal if left untreated, but could be overcome with antibiotics.
“Pneumonic plague can transmit from person to person and that is why there is the concern around this,” Clarke said. He added that while people may immediately think of lockdowns and Covid when an infectious disease outbreak occurs, “that is just not what’s going to happen here”.
“People think, ‘Oh the plague, that’s gone, that went hundreds of years ago,’ but it hasn’t,” Clarke said. “It’s a threat to human health and that’s why they need to study it.”
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Ask News18The US urged Russia to share more details following the death of a 28-year-old lab worker named Darya Shipilova at a plague research centre in Siberia, which sparked global speculation and prompted nearly 200 people to be placed under medical observation.
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Shuddhanta Patra is an Indian journalist with about nine years of experience in covering national politics, geopolitics, defence, diplomacy and international affairs. Her reporting focuses on South As…Read More
October 06, 2026, 9:54 PM IST
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