U.S. health authorities are "closely monitoring" a suspected plague outbreak in Russia, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced Tuesday. The World Health Organization (WHO) has also requested urgent updates from Moscow regarding reports of a second death.
The U.S. government has issued a démarche, a formal diplomatic notice, to Russia, pressing for more details and expressing concerns that Moscow may be concealing the extent of the outbreak. A Russian lab worker, Daria Shipilova, died on Friday. She is believed to have contracted pneumonia after accidentally breaking a test tube containing a plague sample at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute. However, Russian authorities have stated she died of "pneumonia of unknown origin."
"We are aware and closely monitoring the situation," the CDC stated. "While the circumstances of this reported case remain unconfirmed, plague is a serious bacterial disease that is treatable with antibiotics, particularly when recognized and treated early."
The CDC also noted that pneumonic plague can spread from person to person through respiratory droplets during close contact. "This is why rapid identification and treatment of infected individuals, and monitoring of potentially exposed individuals, are important public health measures," the agency said.
"At this time, there is no indication of a broader threat to the United States, but CDC and our interagency partners are prepared and will continue to monitor the situation closely," the CDC added.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that the U.S. is observing the outbreak "very closely, hour by hour." He emphasized the importance of Russia sharing more information with the international community.
The WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said on X that the organization "has requested further information to clarify the cause of the severe pneumonia, the pathogen that prompted the public health measures, and media reports of a second employee with pneumonia of undetermined cause."
A spokesperson for Russian President Vladimir Putin, Dmitry Peskov, indicated that official information would be released by the country's health watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor.