The U.S. Secretary of State issued a statement regarding the spread of the Russian plague

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that Washington is closely monitoring the situation surrounding the death of Daria Shipilova, a 28-year-old employee of the Anti-Plague Research Institute in Irkutsk. 

According to the Secretary of State, although there is currently no cause for panic—since travel between the U.S. and Russia is very limited at this time—the incident requires close attention and monitoring, as the disease could spread rapidly if it were to leave the facility.

Daria Shipilova fell ill at her workplace and died on the night of October 2 at a hospital in the city of Shelekhov. According to local media reports, she may have been infected as a result of a laboratory incident, though Russian authorities have not confirmed this. Following the incident, the anti-plague institute and several other medical facilities in the region were placed under quarantine, isolating more than 60 people.

Source: The National Desk.

As a reminder, a plague outbreak has been confirmed in Russia, and there is already one fatality.

In Russia, nearly 200 people have been hospitalized after coming into contact with a woman who died of pneumonic plague.

Prior to this, the death of a woman from the plague was confirmed in Buryatia.

The White House is monitoring a possible plague outbreak in Russia.