Anthrax: Trump to talk to Putin as Moscow plays down concerns; Kremlin asks Russians to ignore rumors | Today’s news
Days after a lab researcher reportedly died of pneumonia of “unknown origin” in Russia, US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday (local time) that he was scheduled to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss a possible plague case at a Siberian research institute.
Trump scheduled to speak with Putin about the plague case
Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said he would speak with his Russian counterpart about the case “very soon,” the AP reported. Asked what US intelligence agencies were saying about the case, he noted that Washington was having “very deep discussions” on the matter, adding: “We will be able to report on that, probably tomorrow.”
Earlier Monday (local time), Trump said Washington would be willing to help Moscow with the situation, saying: “It’s a tough disease. You know, it’s a disease that we used to be able to control, but somehow those microbes got stronger and smarter. They’re like an army.”
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The 28-year-old lab technician died after developing pneumonia of unknown cause, with some reports suggesting she may have contracted pneumonic plague as a result of the lab incident.
US officials, including President Trump and Secretary of State Rubio, have expressed concern over a possible link to the pneumonic plague and called on Russia to be transparent about the incident.
Pneumonic plague can spread between individuals through respiratory droplets, making it highly contagious and virulent.
Russian authorities placed nearly 200 contacts of the lab worker under medical supervision and conducted extensive laboratory testing, with no confirmation of the plague.
According to the WHO, the risk of the plague spreading outside of Russia is very low and there is no indication that this situation resembles any pandemic-level concerns.
Read also | Trump says US will help Russia after plague deaths in Siberia
Here’s what we know about the plague case
Earlier this month, a 28-year-old woman died after the incident was reported at the Plague Research Institute in Shelekhov, near Irkutsk, Siberia. After the incident, the woman was hospitalized on September 29 at Šelech Hospital with symptoms of pneumonia and was later placed on a ventilator. At least 200 people were under medical supervision at the hospital after her death. Rospotrebnadzor, the state agency that deals with infectious diseases, said it remains unclear what caused the lab researcher’s death.
Separately, local media reported on two possible explanations for the researcher’s death. According to The Moscow Times, one account suggested she became infected during a visit to neighboring Buryatsk, where an outbreak of the plague had been reported near the Mongolian border. The other suggested she accidentally broke a test tube containing the dangerous bacteria while collecting biopsy samples for diagnostic testing in a lab. Following the reports, Alexei Tsydenov, the head of Buryatsk, said the researcher had died “perhaps of the plague,” adding that no plague epidemic had broken out in the republic.
Read also | Researcher dies of ‘unknown infection’ at Russian plague lab: What we know
Russia downplays plague fears; Rubio asks Moscow for more information
The Russian government on Monday downplayed concerns raised by media reports linking the death of a researcher to the plague after a lab accident, according to a CBS News report. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stressed that Rospotrebnadzor, the state health watchdog, was “a leading agency with expertise in this area” and urged Russians to “listen to official information” from its “highly qualified experts”.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio asked Moscow to share more information about the researcher’s death, adding that Washington was “following the incident very closely”. He said: “I think it is Russia’s duty to share more information with the world,” adding: “We are watching it very closely, hour by hour.”
Read also | Russia denies plague measures after lab worker’s death: WHO says risk ‘low’
WHO says risk outside Russia ‘very low’
The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday that a possible pneumonic plague case in Russia posed a “very low” risk outside the country. WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier told the AP: “There is currently no indication that we are dealing with anything like a pandemic.”
What do we know about pneumonic plague?
According to the WHO, pneumonic plague affects the lungs and is the most virulent form of plague. Its incubation period can be up to 24 hours. Although less common than bubonic plague, it can spread from person to person through respiratory particles.
The disease can be fatal without treatment, but the WHO says the chances of recovery are high when it is diagnosed and treated quickly. Symptoms include difficulty breathing and coughing, sometimes with blood.
Bubonic plague, the more common form, is typically spread through the bites of infected fleas. It causes swollen lymph nodes that can develop into open, pus-filled ulcers.
