President Donald Trump is monitoring the death of a Russian lab technician at the Anti‑Plague Institute in Siberia, saying the United States is ‘watching closely’.
Irkutsk governor Igor Kobzev said the woman, named Daria, died of “pneumonia of undetermined etiology” and that no microorganisms linked to her work were found in her samples. The pathogen in question is Yersinia pestis, the bacterium responsible for the Black Death and still present in rodent populations across Siberia.
Unconfirmed reports claimed Daria fell ill either after breaking a test tube containing the pathogen or after a field trip to a region where plague circulates naturally. The incident triggered a brief quarantine of staff at the institute, though the Russian health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor inspected the site and found no emergency situation.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told a brief press briefing that Washington had no reason for alarm, but was monitoring the situation closely. He added that if the pathogen were to escape it could spread from person to person, a scenario that could be contained with antibiotics.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov urged the public to rely on official statements from Rospotrebnadzor rather than rumors. Meanwhile, Russian media announced that nearly 200 people who had contact with the deceased were under medical observation as a precaution.
The Anti‑Plague Institute, founded over a century ago in response to a 1920s outbreak, continues to conduct research on Yersinia pestis, which remains a global public‑health concern. The incident underscores the importance of strict biosafety protocols in facilities handling dangerous pathogens.
