Trump: "Russian Plague Unlikely to Be a Bioweapon"... WHO: "Insufficient Information"

Also noted parallels with China during COVID-19
U.S. to track and screen passengers arriving from Siberia
WHO: "Insufficient information" despite Russia's explanations

U.S. President Donald Trump said he did not think the death of an employee at a Russian plague research institute was possibly linked to a “bioweapon.” He added that the United States was seeking further explanations, saying Russia had not provided enough information.

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters as he leaves the White House on the 7th (local time). EPA-Yonhap News.

According to foreign media outlets including Agence France-Presse and The Washington Post (WP) on the 7th (local time), President Trump told reporters in his office at the White House that day, “We’ll know enough soon, but we don’t think so.” He added, “The Russians say they have the situation pretty well under control.”

Concern over the incident grew after Darya Shipilova, a 28-year-old researcher at a plague research institute in Russia’s Siberian region of Irkutsk, died last week of pneumonia from an unknown cause. International attention mounted after Russian authorities took measures more stringent than standard responses, including designating about 200 people for quarantine and monitoring.

An ambulance passes in front of a hospital in Shelekhov, Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, on the 7th (local time). AFP-Yonhap.

President Trump also noted some similarities with the situation in early 2020, when China claimed that the initial spread of COVID-19 was “under control.” He said, “China didn’t say much, and Russia isn’t saying much now either,” adding, “They say the situation is very well under control.”

The U.S. government has shown concern but assessed the threat level in the United States as low. Erica Schwartz, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said at a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) event that day that the risk the Russian situation poses to the United States was “extremely low.”

However, the CDC said it was preparing, together with relevant agencies including the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the State Department, to track and screen travelers entering the United States from Siberia. Although there are no direct flights between Russia and the United States, an estimated 200 people enter the United States from Siberia each year.

A woman and a child wearing masks walk along a street in Shelekhov, Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, on the 7th (local time). AFP-Yonhap News

Russian health authorities announced the findings of their own investigation into Darya Shipilova’s death and subsequent measures that day. About 200 people were quarantined immediately after the incident, but Russian authorities said no dangerous pathogens had been detected in about 5,000 tests and that 90% of those quarantined had been released. The authorities said the situation was “stable” and that follow-up tests of thousands of people had also found no plague.

The authorities also said, “There is no risk of an outbreak among residents of the Irkutsk region.” Russia also said that Shipilova, the researcher who died, had been vaccinated and was therefore immune to the dangerous infectious diseases she was working with. However, it did not disclose exactly which pathogen caused the pneumonia or how she was infected.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said that the information released by the Russian government was insufficient to adequately assess the risk. Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO Director of Epidemic and Pandemic Preparedness and Prevention, said, “We need to know what tests were conducted and which pathogens were identified, and, if it wasn’t plague, what caused her death.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.