Trump to Discuss Siberian Plague Case with Putin
The president stated he has a call scheduled with the Russian leader soon regarding the death of a lab worker.
President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he will soon speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin about the death of a plague institute worker in Siberia. "I have a call scheduled very soon," Trump told reporters at the White House.
Trump indicated that U.S. intelligence agencies have been engaged in "very deep discussions" regarding the incident and that more information might be available on Wednesday. The White House has been monitoring the suspected plague outbreak in Russia after the death of a lab worker and the quarantine of hundreds of individuals.
The deceased, identified as 28-year-old lab technician Daria Shipilova, died on Friday in a hospital near Irkutsk. Speculation arose that her illness was linked to her work at the nearby Anti-Plague Research Institute. Reports suggest she may have died after accidentally breaking a test tube containing a pathogen.
Concerns have been raised that Shipilova may have contracted pneumonic plague, a highly contagious and potentially fatal form of the disease that can spread through respiration. While pneumonic plague is almost always fatal, it can be treated with common antibiotics. Soviet scientists reportedly modified the bacterium responsible for pneumonic plague, Yersinia pestis, to be resistant to antibiotics in the 1980s for potential use as a biological weapon.