US President Donald Trump has said he is watching the Siberian 'plague' incident that led to a hospital quarantine with 'concern', describing the disease as 'rough'. The President said he would be willing to help, though he has not yet spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
'It's a rough disease. You know, that's a disease we used to be able to control, but somehow those microbes have gotten stronger and smarter. They're like an army,' Mr Trump told reporters outside the White House.
'Even with great advancement, the germs have really become relatively stronger than they were, and things that used to work on pneumonia don't work as well anymore.'
Hospital quarantine after woman's death
His comments come after Russian authorities quarantined a hospital and began monitoring contacts of an employee at a plague research institute in Siberia who contracted pneumonia from an 'unknown' cause.
Local state TV said the woman died last week. Russian authorities said they found no evidence that her illness was caused by any of the pathogens she worked with.
The case has raised alarm in Russia after unconfirmed media reports suggested she might have died of pneumonic plague, a less common but severe form of plague that can spread from person to person.
Officials respond in Irkutsk
The woman worked at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East in Irkutsk, south-eastern Siberia. A state TV station in Irkutsk reported on Monday that she died last week in a hospital in Shelekhov, a town just outside Irkutsk.
Anna Popova, head of Russia's public health watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, flew to Irkutsk and met with governor Igor Kobzev and other officials on Friday.
Mr Kobzev said everyone who came into contact with the woman is under medical supervision. He did not identify the infection and called it a suspected case of 'a particularly dangerous infection'. Rospotrebnadzor was implementing 'a full range of anti-epidemic measures', he added.
Tests reveal no professional link
Rospotrebnadzor said on Sunday the woman was diagnosed with 'pneumonia of unknown etiology', or origin, and said 'extensive' testing found 'no microorganisms associated with the patient's professional activities'. The agency also said it did not uncover any incidents at the institute 'involving pathogenic microorganisms'.
Two people who were in contact with the woman tested positive for a virus that causes a common cold and two others for Covid-19, the agency said, adding that others who were tested were all negative.
