Rubio calls on Russia to provide more information about plague lab death

Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday called on Russia to provide more information surrounding a suspected pneumonic plague outbreak in the country after a woman working at a laboratory handling the deadly pathogens died.

While the World Health Organization said Tuesday the risk of spread in Russia and to Europe is generally low, it is waiting for an official assessment from the Russian Federation.

Rubio, speaking to reporters while on diplomatic travel in Iceland, said it is “incumbent” on Russia to share more information with the world.

“We encourage Russia to be transparent and share more information with the world so that all of us could react accordingly and appropriately,” he said.

Rubio’s remarks come less than a week after Russian media reports highlighted the death of a woman who worked at a laboratory in Russia’s Irkutsk oblast, with authorities looking into whether she was infected with pneumonic plague.

Her workplace studies dangerous pathogens, including plague, in a part of Siberia where plague occurs naturally in wild animals, the WHO said in a statement provided to The Hill’s partner, NewsNation.

Pneumonic plague is a rare but often fatal disease that can be transmitted by respiratory droplets from animals or persons infected with the Yersinia pestis bacteria, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Nearly 200 people are under observation of possible infection, related to possible contact with the deceased woman, according to reports, including more than 100 in hospital wards.