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U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday called on Russia to provide more information after reports that a laboratory technician died of plague in Siberia, saying Washington was monitoring the situation “very closely.”
“I think it’s incumbent upon Russia to obviously share more information with the world,” Rubio said in Reykjavik, Iceland, urging Moscow to be “transparent.”
His remarks came as Russian authorities denied that special anti-plague measures had been imposed following reports of the death.
Reports last week said a worker at an anti-plague institute in Russia’s Irkutsk region had died of pneumonic plague.
Russian authorities said the cause of death had not been confirmed.
Health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor also denied claims circulating in an online document that special measures had been introduced.
“We wish to clarify that the document and information in question do not originate from official sources and are untrue,” the agency said on Telegram.
“No such decisions have been made at this time,” it added, saying the health situation in the region remained stable.
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Russian outlet People of Baikal identified the dead woman as 28-year-old Darya Shipilova and reported Friday that she may have contracted pneumonic plague from a broken test tube.
Other media reports also suggested a possible connection between her death and a laboratory accident at the facility.
People of Baikal reported that up to 200 people who may have had contact with Shipilova were under quarantine.
Rubio said the U.S. would continue to follow the situation closely.
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