Trump to speak with Putin over reported plague death in Russia

U.S. President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he has a call scheduled with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the reported death of a laboratory technician from plague in Siberia. Washington is pressing Moscow for transparency amid conflicting reports about the incident at an anti-plague institute.

Russian authorities have denied imposing anti-plague measures and played down reports of an incident at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute of Siberia and the Far East last week. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that Russia should share more information with the world, emphasizing the need for transparency to allow for an appropriate response.

The U.S. State Department had previously sent Russia a confidential diplomatic communication, a demarche, warning Moscow that a failure to disclose details runs counter to its international health obligations. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it was aware of and monitoring the reports, calling it a "suspected case of pneumonic plague in the Irkutsk region of Russia," but indicated no broader threat to the United States at this time.

Russian news outlet People of Baikal reported that the deceased woman, identified as 28-year-old Darya Shipilova, may have contracted pneumonic plague from a broken test tube, with other media suggesting a possible link to a lab accident. The outlet also reported that up to 200 people with whom she may have had contact were under quarantine.

However, Russian authorities stated that the cause of death is not confirmed and that postmortem tests have not detected the disease. Health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor denied claims circulating online about special measures being put in place, stating that a document to that effect was untrue and not from official sources. Irkutsk Regional Governor Igor Kobzev said Monday that an inspection found the woman died of pneumonia and the cause was "undetermined," with no microorganisms linked to her work found in biological samples. He added that no other staff at the institute had sought medical attention since her death.

The World Health Organization stated that an update received Tuesday from Russia stressed that "no case of this dangerous disease has been recorded in the city of Irkutsk." WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote on X that "Timely, complete and transparent information sharing under the International Health Regulations is essential to clarify conflicting reports and enable an accurate assessment of potential public health risks." The update indicated Russia had launched an epidemiological investigation into a "case of community-acquired pneumonia" and that test results showed no presence of dangerous infectious disease pathogens in any of the contacts.