“Microbes are getting stronger, theyʼre like an army.” Trump says US ready to help Russia with possible plague outbreak

The US President Donald Trump said that the United States could help Russia after information about a possible case of plague in the Irkutsk region.

He told reporters at the White House, CNBC writes.

Trump said he had not spoken to Russian officials about the incident, but called the plague a “vicious disease”. He added that the plague used to be controllable, but now “somehow the germs are getting stronger and stronger and like an army”.

A US State Department spokesman said they were closely monitoring the situation and urged Russian authorities to share information quickly and openly.

What preceded

The Russian media reported on a possible outbreak of plague in early October. The first victim was 28-year-old Daria Shipilova, who worked at the Irkutsk Research Institute; she died on October 2. After that, almost 200 contact people were placed under medical supervision.

According to one version, Shipilova could have become infected during a work trip to Buryatia, where a plague outbreak was recorded on the border with Mongolia. According to another, she broke a test tube with the plague pathogen.

Russian authorities have not confirmed the plague, stating that the womanʼs cause of death was "pneumonia of unknown etiology". The Russian Ministry of Health noted that the epidemiological situation in the region remains stable.

However, Russian media reports that a mask-wearing regime has been introduced in the region, and hospitals have been closed for quarantine.

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