Posted by Chinenye on Tue 06th Oct, 2026 - tori.ng
Fears of a possible plague outbreak are growing in parts of Siberia, with hospitals placed under quarantine and hundreds of people being monitored.
(President Donald Trump. Photo by Daily Mail)
U.S. President Donald Trump has offered to help Russia as it rushes to contain a suspected outbreak of deadly airborne plague in Siberia.
More than 200 people are under medical watch and four hospitals have been shut for a three-week quarantine in Irkutsk, a city near Russia's border with Mongolia.
This follows the death of lab worker Daria Shipilova, 28, who reportedly fell ill after accidentally breaking a test tube containing plague bacteria at a research institute.
She spent days in hospital before dying of pneumonia of unknown cause, according to Russian officials.
Around 60 of her colleagues are still isolated at the institute over fears she may have died of pneumonic plague.
Officials in Moscow have tried to play down the risk of wide spread.
Speaking on Monday, Trump said the U.S. is looking at the matter very strongly and will help.
He noted that the illness is being called pneumonia, and said germs have grown stronger over the years.
Pneumonic plague attacks the lungs and spreads easily from person to person through breath particles, but it can be cured with antibiotics if treated early.
Russia's health watchdog says expanded testing found no micro-organisms linked to Shipilova's work and denies any accident took place at the institute.
Alexei Tsydenov, head of neighbouring Buryatia, first confirmed she died of plague but later said she only possibly caught it.
Public events in Irkutsk have been cancelled and a criminal investigation into health safety breaches has reportedly begun.
Regional governor Igor Kobzev described the situation as stable.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington is watching closely.
He said such an outbreak could spread quickly but there is no cause for alarm, partly because there are no direct commercial flights between the US and Russia.
The State Department is tracking the situation with the CDC and other partners, and a US official urged Russia to share accurate information quickly and openly.
The official said plague is treatable with common antibiotics, especially when treatment starts early.
Up to five hospitals in and near Irkutsk are reportedly in epidemic mode, with hundreds of staff and patients not allowed to leave.
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia have tightened border health checks.
Reports say drugs for treating the disease are running low, with scared residents crowding pharmacies and clinics.
The Kremlin said the public should rely only on official statements from the health agency, Rospotrebnadzor, and not on rumours.
Plague is caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis and usually spreads to humans through bites from infected fleas or animals.
It is infamous for the Black Death in medieval Europe, which some estimates say wiped out 30 to 60 per cent of the continent's population.