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U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he has a call scheduled “very soon” with Russian President Vladimir Putin as Washington monitors reports of a possible pneumonic plague case in Russia.
When reporters at the White House asked whether he had spoken with Putin about the issue, Trump said, “I have a call scheduled very soon.”
“So far, we’re in very deep discussions. We’ll be able to report about it probably tomorrow,” he added.
Trump earlier said the United States was looking “very strongly” at the risk of pneumonic plague from Russia and added that Washington would “help them.”
Russian authorities have denied imposing anti-plague measures and played down reports of an incident at a plague research institute in Siberia’s Irkutsk region last week.
But Washington has shown growing concern, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio calling on Russia to be transparent about the situation. The World Health Organization issued a similar appeal Tuesday.
“We encourage Russia to be transparent and share more information with the world so that all of us could react accordingly and appropriately,” Rubio said during a trip to Iceland.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the U.S. State Department sent Russia a confidential diplomatic communication, known as a demarche, warning Moscow that failing to disclose details would run counter to its international health obligations.
Russian news outlet People of Baikal reported Friday that a 28-year-old laboratory technician, identified as Darya Shipilova, may have contracted pneumonic plague from a broken test tube.
Other media reported a possible link between her death and a laboratory accident at the facility.
People of Baikal also said up to 200 people with whom she may have had contact were under quarantine.
Russian authorities said the cause of death had not been confirmed, while health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor denied claims circulating online 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,” it said on Telegram.
Russian officials said postmortem tests had not detected the disease.
Irkutsk Regional Governor Igor Kobzev said Monday that a Rospotrebnadzor inspection found that the woman died of pneumonia and that the cause was “undetermined.”
“No microorganisms linked to the young woman’s professional work were found in her biological samples,” Kobzev said, adding that no other staff at the institute had sought medical attention since her death.
The WHO said an update received Tuesday from Russia stressed that “no case of this dangerous disease has been recorded in the city of Irkutsk.”
But WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus later urged Moscow to be transparent, saying the agency had “requested further information” on the cause of the pneumonia case and other details.
“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,” he wrote on X.
Plague is a bacterial disease that can occur in several forms, including pneumonic plague, which is the most contagious form and can spread through respiratory transmission.
Pneumonic plague, which can cause lung failure, can be fatal if not treated early, according to the WHO. Bubonic plague is transmitted by infected fleas.
Trump said Monday that he was ready to help Russia if needed.
In an apparent response to Trump’s offer, Rospotrebnadzor said Tuesday that Moscow was prepared to assist the United States in combating its own outbreaks of infectious diseases.
The Russian watchdog pointed to what it described as a “significantly worsened” measles situation in three U.S. states and a fatal plague case recorded in New Mexico in June, among other examples.
Measles cases have increased under the Trump administration, in which vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. serves as health secretary.
An international conference on plague and other infectious diseases is scheduled to be held in Irkutsk on Oct. 21-22, although organizers said it was “unrelated to the recent death of an employee of the anti-plague institute.”
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