Trump Says Microbes Have Grown Stronger and Smarter, Plans Putin Call on Russia Plague Case
WHO rates risk outside Russia very low as investigation continues.
US President Donald Trump has warned that microbes once considered controllable have become “stronger and smarter”, comparing them to an army as Russia investigates a possible case of pneumonic plague linked to the death of an employee at a research institute in Siberia. Trump said he was scheduled to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin “very soon” to discuss the situation. The case has drawn international attention after the employee at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East died from pneumonia of unknown cause.
Russian authorities have attributed the woman’s death to pneumonia with an unknown cause, while health officials continue to investigate whether pneumonic plague was involved. Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said the disease was once considered controllable but suggested that microbes had become more difficult to contain. He also said the United States was involved in “very deep discussions” over the matter and that more information from the US intelligence community could be available soon.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington was monitoring developments “very closely, hour by hour” and expected Russia to provide more information to the international community. Rubio said the United States had measures available to assist Russia if the situation proved more serious than currently understood, while stressing that Washington needed additional information before determining what action might be necessary. Trump had earlier offered US assistance to Russia and described plague as a “rough disease”. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Moscow appreciated the offer, while indicating that Russia’s public health watchdog was handling the situation.
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The World Health Organisation has assessed the possible pneumonic plague case as posing a “very low” risk outside Russia. Russian health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor has also sought to reassure the public, saying no plague cases had been detected among people who came into contact with the deceased worker. The watchdog said no infectious diseases had been reported among staff at the institute during the previous 10 days and that extensive testing of the woman’s body had not found microorganisms linked to her work.
About 200 people were initially placed under quarantine as a precaution, according to local reports, while Elena Sofina, deputy head of the Shelekhov district near Irkutsk, said about 60 per cent had subsequently been released. She said the “dangerous diagnosis” had not been confirmed. The WHO said Russia had not yet officially responded to its request for information about the death. WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier said all contacts had been identified and were being monitored, with none showing symptoms so far.
Trump’s planned conversation with Putin also comes as Washington faces a separate political decision involving Russia. The Trump administration has an October 18 deadline to determine which Russian entities, if any, will face sanctions under the Lindsey O Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act, which Trump signed into law on September 18. Ukraine has already submitted a list of Russian companies, vessels and individuals it wants targeted under the legislation. The planned Trump-Putin call is therefore expected to take place against the backdrop of both the ongoing health investigation and wider US-Russia tensions.
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