Tracking hour by hour: US seeks info from Russia over plague lab worker's death

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington is seeking more information from Russia over the death of a 28-year-old laboratory worker at a Siberian plague research institute.

In Short

• Marco Rubio says incumbent upon Russia to share info on plague lab worker's death
• Victim died of pneumonia at Siberia plague institute on October 2
• Russia quarantined and released majority of people who were with lab worker

The US is seeking more information from Russia over the death of a laboratory worker at a Siberian plague research institute, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, adding that Washington is monitoring the situation "hour by hour" amid concerns over a possible plague outbreak.

A 28-year-old woman working at the plague research institute in Russia's Irkutsk fell ill and died on Friday from pneumonia of an as-yet undetermined origin. Her death prompted Russian authorities to quarantine dozens of people as a precaution and sparked concern on social media.

"We're watching it very closely, hour by hour," Rubio told reporters in Iceland, while stressing that Russia was expected to share more information with the international community.

Rubio said the US had "measures" available to assist Russia if the situation proved more serious than currently acknowledged, but said Washington needed more information before taking action.

WHO SAYS 'PLAGUE' RISK LOW OUTSIDE RUSSIA

The World Health Organisation (WHO), meanwhile, said the possible case of pneumonic plague in Russia currently poses a "very low" risk outside the country.

Russian authorities, however, have sought to reassure the public that the situation is under control. The country's health watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, said on Tuesday that no plague cases had been detected among people who had come into contact with the lab worker.

The watchdog said no infectious diseases had been reported among staff at the institute over the past 10 days and that extensive testing of the woman's body had found no microorganisms linked to her work.

Around 200 people had initially been quarantined as a precaution, according to local media. Elena Sofina, deputy head of the Shelekhov district near Irkutsk, said 60 per cent of those quarantined had since been released and that what she described as a "dangerous diagnosis" had not been confirmed.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) said Russia had yet to officially respond to its request for information about the lab worker's death. WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier said all contacts had been identified and were being monitored, with none showing symptoms so far.

US President Donald Trump had on Monday offered to help Russia, describing the situation as a "big problem" for Moscow.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Moscow appreciated Trump's offer of assistance, while indicating that Russia's public health watchdog was handling the situation and would provide further information.

- Ends
(with inputs from Reuters)