Woman at Russian plague research institute dies; Trump doubts bioweapon, WHO seeks data

A 28-year-old woman employee of a plague research institute (the Anti-Plague Research Institute) in Russia has died suddenly in mysterious circumstances. Fears have been raised that pneumonic plague may spread in Russia after the death. With anxiety already high worldwide over health crises and epidemics, the suspicious death has set off a political and medical debate internationally.

According to information from Russian authorities, the woman initially had symptoms resembling a common viral respiratory infection. Her condition worsened within a short time, and her death was reported to have been caused by pneumonia. She worked in a highly sensitive laboratory researching plague, which has strengthened suspicions that pneumonic plague infection lay behind her death. Pneumonic plague is considered a very dangerous form of plague that attacks the lungs directly and can spread from person to person through the air.

US President Donald Trump was asked by reporters whether the plague case in Russia involved a biological weapon. Trump dismissed the suspicion for now. "We don't think so. What has actually happened will be known soon, but we don't think so," he said. He also said the Russians were saying the situation was fully under control.

Trump also questioned Russia's transparency. According to him, the Russian government claims the situation is under control but has given the world very little information. Trump compared the situation to China's conduct at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. He suspected that Russia was now doing something similar to how China had hidden the real information from the world in the early stage. Trump also announced that he would speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone soon to discuss the issue.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has taken the mysterious death very seriously. As preliminary investigation reports point towards pneumonic plague, the WHO has asked the Russian government for full information and data. Maria Van Kerkhove, a senior WHO official, said many questions about the death remain unanswered.

According to information provided by Russia, no plague case had been recorded in the area concerned in recent times. All people who had been in contact with the woman have also been tested.

As a precaution, the hospital where the 28-year-old woman was treated and where she died has been placed under complete quarantine locally. Russia's health department has appealed to people not to panic and not to believe false rumours. However, because of the lack of information and the uncertainty, the WHO has begun to reconsider its earlier assessment of the level of risk to the general public.