Russian authorities are quarantining a hospital and monitoring 200 contacts of a suspected pneumonic plague death in Siberia.
Published October 5, 2026
President Donald Trump said the United States stands ready to assist Russia with a suspected outbreak of pneumonic plague.
“We’re looking at it very strongly. I just heard about it,” Trump said, adding that he had not spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin about the matter but was open to offering U.S. assistance.
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“This is a disease that was once under control,” President Trump said. “Even if we make great progress, the bacteria are actually relatively stronger than they were before, and what used to be effective against pneumonia is no longer effective…Anyone who has a problem like that, we will help.”
The World Health Organization (WHO) said that based on unofficial information available, “the public health risk to the general population appears to be low.”
Earlier Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also downplayed the risk. “I don’t think that’s a reason to be alarmed, but it’s a reason to watch and just watch,” Rubio said.
Russian authorities have quarantined a hospital and are tracing the contacts of a staff member at a plague institute in the remote Siberian city of Irkutsk who died of suspected pneumonic plague. Local media identified the employee as 28-year-old laboratory technician Darya Shipilova.
Official details about the incident are limited, with Russian media reporting that Irkutsk authorities have placed around 200 people under medical observation.
On Sunday, Russia’s state-run TASS news agency reported that the country’s consumer protection agency Rospotrebnadzor announced that an employee at the Irkutsk Anti-Epidemic Institute in Siberia and the Far East was diagnosed with “pneumonia of unknown etiology and origin.” The agency also said it expanded testing of samples from patients and found no microorganisms linked to her work.
On Saturday, the governor of the neighboring Buryatia region said in a post on his Telegram channel that the Irkutsk woman “probably died from the plague.”
“We encourage Russian authorities to share accurate information quickly and openly,” a State Department official said in a statement to Al Jazeera.
Pneumonic plague is caused by the bacteria Yersinia pestis, which is usually found in small mammals and their fleas. According to the WHO, plague is highly contagious and can be fatal if not treated early.
Plague comes in three forms and affects different parts of the body. Pneumonic plague, an infection of the lungs, causes patients to cough up infectious airborne droplets.
If identified quickly, the disease can be treated with antibiotics. If left untreated, death can occur in 1 to 6 days.
