Trump says Putin call coming ‘very soon’ as US tracks suspected plague death in Russia, tell me about this news today

U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House that he has a call scheduled “very soon” with Russian President Vladimir Putin to address growing international concern over a suspected fatal case of plague at a research institute in Siberia.

WSLS

The Core Incident

The incident centers on the death of 28-year-old laboratory technician Darya Shipilova, who worked at an anti-plague research facility in the Irkutsk region of Siberia.

Nacionale News

• The Suspected Case: Reports and regional accounts indicated she died after a suspected laboratory accident involving Yersinia pestis (the bacteria responsible for the plague), triggering local precautionary quarantines, hospital isolations, and monitoring for up to 200 potential contacts.

  The Guardian

• Moscow’s Stance: Russian consumer health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor and health authorities downplayed reports of an outbreak, attributing her death to “pneumonia of unknown etiology,” stating post-mortem tests found no pathogens linked to her research work, and denying widespread anti-plague protocols were in place.

  Nacionale News

U.S. and International Reactions

• The White House: Trump stated that U.S. intelligence and interagency teams are in “very deep discussions” regarding the situation and tracking it closely, adding that Washington is willing to assist Russia if needed.

  WSLS

• State Department: U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called on the Kremlin for transparency, stressing that the U.S. is monitoring the case “hour by hour” and needs verifiable data so the international community can respond appropriately.

• World Health Organization (WHO): WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged Moscow to provide full, timely information under the International Health Regulations to resolve conflicting accounts and evaluate any public health risks, which health bodies currently assess as low to moderate.

  The Straits Times

• Regional Precaution: Several neighboring Central Asian nationsincluding Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistanhave enacted enhanced sanitary and border health measures in response to the reports.

  930 WFMD Free Talk