Trump says US ready to aid Russia with plague outbreak in Siberia

Russian authorities quarantine hospital, monitor 200 contacts after suspected pneumonic plague death in Siberia.

President Donald Trump says the United States is ready to help Russia with a suspected pneumonic plague outbreak.

“It’s a disease we used to be able to control,” Trump said. “Even with great advancement, the germs have really become relatively stronger than they were, and things that used to work on pneumonia don’t work anymore … anyone that has that kind of problem, we will help.”

Earlier on Monday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio downplayed the danger as well. “I don’t think it’s cause for alarm, but it is cause for focus and a cause to just keep an eye on it,” Rubio said.

Official details about the incident have been limited, and Russian media reports say authorities in Irkutsk have placed nearly 200 people under medical observation.

On Saturday, the governor of neighbouring Buryatia region said in a post on his Telegram channel that a woman in Irkutsk had “died, maybe of the plague”.

Pneumonic plague is caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, usually found in small mammals and their fleas. According to the WHO, the plague is highly infectious and can be fatal if not treated early.

If identified quickly, antibiotics can treat the disease. Left untreated, it can be fatal in one to six days.