Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Monday the US is monitoring a suspected pneumonic plague outbreak in Russia, downplaying it as not ’cause for alarm.’
Fears around an outbreak have spread after Russian scientist Darya Shipilova, 28, died days after reportedly dropping a vial of live plague bacterium at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute in Siberia last week.
Nearby countries, including Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia, have tightened border health controls despite Russia’s insistence that Shipilova died from ‘unidentified pneumonia‘, rather than the plague.
Rubio admitted that while such a suspected outbreak could ‘quickly spread’ there was no immediate cause for concern, particularly because there are no direct commercial flights between the US and Russia.
‘There’s very limited travel between the US and Russia, obviously,’ Rubio told reporters on Monday before traveling to Iceland.
‘But like anything else, something like that gets out and could quickly spread. So we’re watching and monitoring it closely.’
‘I don’t think it’s cause for alarm, but it is cause for focus and a cause to just keep an eye on it. And we’re doing that,’ he added.
Vladimir Putin‘s regime is seeking to downplay Shipilova’s death on October 2, yet widespread suspicion of a state cover-up is rapidly spreading.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on Monday that the feared plague outbreak in Russia is not ’cause for alarm,’ adding that the US is monitoring the situation closely
A worker in full protective gear is filmed by residents of Shelekhov in Russia’s Irkutsk Region as the local hospital is partially shut following the death of a young woman
Daria Shipilova, 28, laboratory assistant at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East in Irkutsk
Moscow is believed to have implemented a lockdown on hospitals and medical centers in a 30-square-mile area following her death.
Around 200 people believed to have had contact with Shipilova have reportedly been placed under medical observation or isolation as authorities investigate her death
It was revealed today that more than 60 colleagues of the young scientist will remain locked inside the Siberian research institute, sleeping on floors and chairs despite none testing positive for the plague.
Irkutsk Governor Igor Kobzev said there had been no new cases among institute employees seeking medical care since Shipilova’s death, and insisted the region’s sanitary situation was stable.
Plague is caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, and typically humans become infected through the bite of an infected host, such as a flea or animal.
While this flea-borne version usually targets the lymph nodes, the disease can also develop into pneumonic plague, the most serious form, which infects the lungs and can spread between people through respiratory droplets during close contact.
The disease is infamous for killing millions in Europe during the Middle Ages, when some estimates suggest it wiped out 30 to 60 percent of the continent’s population, some 75 to 200 million people.
Plague is rare in the United States but can be deadly without prompt treatment. It can be treated with commonly used antibiotics, especially when treatment begins early, US officials said.
Up to five hospitals in and near Irkutsk are in ‘epidemic’ mode, according to reports, with hundreds of staff and patients not allowed to leave.
A view of the Medical Assistance and Rescue Centre, an infectious diseases hospital, in the town of Shelekhov in the Irkutsk region, Russia, October 5, 2026
Reports claim that drugs used to treat the disease are running out in the region, leaving terrified residents piling into pharmacies and medical facilities demanding supplies.
In its only comment on the case, the Kremlin said the public should only trust updates coming from the official health agency.
‘One should rely on official statements from Rospotrebnadzor rather than listening to various rumors and speculation,’ Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said today.
The State Department said that it is monitoring the outbreak with the help of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other interagency partners.
A US official said in a statement: ‘We encourage Russian authorities to share accurate information quickly and openly … Plague is a known disease and is treatable with common antibiotics, especially when treatment starts early. Cases occur naturally in many parts of the world.’
Health and Human Services (HHS) referred the Daily Mail to the State Department’s comment.
The Daily Mail contacted the White House for comment.