Trump has said he will speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin about a suspected plague-related incident at a research institute in Siberia, as authorities and international health authorities seek to determine the reasons for the death of a laboratory worker.
Trump said the call with Putin was to take place “very soon” and said he is looking forward to an interview. The U.S. is in discussions with Russia and more details will be made available soon, he said. The development has attracted global attention as the worker worked at an institute that researches plague and other infectious diseases.
The incident is on the death of a 28-year-old worker at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East. Russian health authorities have said the woman died of pneumonia of unknown cause. Reports and speculation on social media had said she had a pneumonic plague infection but Russian authorities have not confirmed that she died from plague.
But the uncertainty surrounding the case has prompted precautionary measures. Health officials put people who had contact with the employee under medical observation, and hospitals in the region were reportedly under precautionary restrictions
. At one point, nearly 200 people were said to have been under observation. Most of those under observation were later released after tests did not show infection.
WHO Assesses Wider Risk
The World Health Organization has been in contact with Russian authorities over the incident. The risk outside Russia is very low, which distinguishes the reported case from a confirmed international outbreak, the agency said.
But WHO's assessment comes as investigators are still trying to understand exactly what caused the laboratory worker’s illness and death. Russian officials have said there were no confirmed plague cases in Irkutsk and international agencies have been monitoring developments and seeking more information.
The distinction is particularly important as pneumonic plague is a serious form of plague that can affect the lungs and can spread through respiratory droplets. But the current reports do not prove that the Siberian laboratory worker had pneumonic plague. Experts and health authorities have thus been warning of risk during the investigation.
Trump Offers US Assistance
Trump had already stated that Washington would help Russia if needed. His comments indicate that the matter has been discussed at the highest levels of the US government.
U.S. officials have said they are monitoring the situation through agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the State Department. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has also called for transparency and accurate information from Moscow, and warns against speculation before the facts are known.
The White House's interest is indicative of the sensitivity of infectious disease incidents involving laboratories. The COVID-19 pandemic has also increased international attention to reports of laboratory workers and potentially dangerous pathogens.
Putin Call Comes Amid Wider US-Russia Tensions
Trump’s conversation with Putin also takes place under a broader context of strained relations between the US and Russia. There is still a split between the two nations on Russia’s war in Ukraine, and Washington is considering more sanctions against Russian companies.
The Trump administration faces an October 18 deadline to determine which Russian entities, if any, will be sanctioned under the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act, which Trump signed into law on September 18.
Ukraine also has provided Washington and Congress with a list of Russian companies, vessels, and individuals it wants to see sanctioned under the legislation.
Given the wider diplomatic context, the suspected disease incident has raised another issue for Washington and Moscow to discuss. But the health issue is still under investigation and there is no official evidence of a plague outbreak in Siberia.
For now, Russian health authorities say that the situation is under control, while the WHO continues to monitor it. The Trump-Putin conversation will also be an opportunity for the two governments to exchange information as officials are trying to determine if there is a wider public-health risk from the laboratory worker’s death and what happened.
