Russia’s government said Wednesday that it was willing to schedule a phone call between Presidents Trump and Vladimir Putin “soon” to discuss the still-unexplained death of a plague research center employee, but that nothing had yet been scheduled. Trump told reporters Tuesday night that he hoped to speak with Putin “very soon” about the death of the Siberian lab worker on Oct. 2, after Secretary of State Marco Rubio called on Moscow to be more transparent about the incident and “share more information with the world.” A State Department spokesperson later told CBS News that the U.S. Embassy in Moscow had “communicated Russian authorities about the reported death” and “requested additional information,” which it encouraged Russia to share “promptly and transparently.” So far, Russian authorities have only offered “pneumonia of unknown origin” as the cause of Darya Shipilova’s death. Shipilova, 28, worked at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute, more than 4,000 kilometers east of Moscow, and initial Russian media reports (some of which were quickly deleted) suggested she had contracted pneumonic plague after a laboratory accident and died from the disease. The United Nations World Health Organization on Wednesday asked Russia’s national health surveillance agency, Rospotrebnadzor, to provide more information about Shipilova’s death, and the Russian body said it had provided more details. In a statement, Rospotrebnadzor said it was easing precautionary measures that were implemented in the Siberian region of Irkutsk, where the laboratory is located, after determining that there was no risk of an epidemic related to Shipilova’s death. He said no cases of plague were detected among the 200 people tested after coming into contact with it, and that 90% of those who had been placed under quarantine conditions for monitoring had been released. The agency said it had performed nearly 5,000 laboratory tests on those individuals and that none of them had detected dangerous pathogens. The Rospotrebnadzor statement added that Shipilova had been vaccinated against the dangerous infections she worked with, so she had immunity against them. But despite assurances from the Russian government, the lack of a clear explanation for Shiplova’s death has led to rumors surfacing about what might have killed her and what work might be underway at the Russian research center. According to its website, the Irkutsk anti-plague laboratory’s work extends beyond research on the well-known bacteria, which is present in animal populations in the region, as well as in other parts of the world, to include planning and preparation for how to deal with incidents involving “potential agents of bioterrorism.” In other words, the center is involved in Russia’s planning for how to respond to potential biological attacks. Chinese and Western media reports this week have noted collaboration between the facility’s director, who has also visited American research facilities, and Chinese authorities, including participating in a “joint emergency drill” to practice a theoretical “cross-border infectious disease epidemic” in August. The Irkutsk laboratory was previously a “cover for a biological weapons facility.” Annie Jacobsen, an American journalist and author of “Biological War,” a fictional story about a hypothetical engineered pathogen – a pneumonic plague – that accidentally emerged from a laboratory in Siberia and was published just a few months ago, said the scenario is what “concerns military experts the most.” When it comes to “the accidental release of a genetically engineered pathogen from a high or maximum containment laboratory around the world,” he told CBS News, “The number one concern is Russia.” “During the 1980s and before, Russia had a very robust, illegal biological weapons program,” Jacobsen said. “The facility in Irkutsk, which is in question right now, was a dual-use facility, meaning that, yes, it was doing what it was supposed to do, which was creating medical countermeasures against dangerous pathogens, but it was also a cover for a biological weapons facility.” This undated photograph released in 2019 by the Siberian and Far Eastern Plague Research Institute in Irkutsk shows workers at the institute in a laboratory. Irkutsk Siberian and Far Eastern Anti-Plague Research Institute via AP She told CBS News that all the scrutiny Russia has received this week is due not only to independent media reports of Shipiova’s death from a possible plague infection, but also to “the quarantine of about 200 people” under what she said were “draconian measures.” The true indicator, according to Jacobsen, of a serious problem in Irkutsk will be any confirmed secondary infections. The WHO said on Wednesday it had requested more information after some media reports suggested a possible second infection in the area, but nothing has been confirmed so far. Russians relaxed, but not their neighbors Lyudi Baikala, an independent Russian news outlet that was one of the first to break the news of Shipilova’s death and say it could have been a plague infection, quoted a colleague of Shipilova’s on Tuesday as saying her illness began with cold-like symptoms before rapidly worsening. After being hospitalized, about 200 colleagues were reportedly quarantined at the research institute for three days and tested twice a day before being discharged. Residents of her apartment building told Russian media that a van arrived the night she died. They said people who appeared to be from the national health agency, wearing gas masks and orange protective suits, sprayed the building’s entrance with a substance that residents assumed was antiseptic. Strict controls on information in Russia make independent verification of events difficult, but journalists from the French news agency AFP visited Irkutsk on Tuesday and said residents were getting on with their lives, and those who agreed to be interviewed said they were not worried, “because [authorities] He said there have been no confirmed cases and that people who have been in contact with infected people have been isolated and nothing has happened. [to them]”But until Russia offers more definitive answers about what killed Shipilova, Moscow will likely continue to face questions, and its neighbors may not be as willing to accept its assurances. As of Wednesday, authorities in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan had confirmed the implementation of additional precautionary measures on their borders with Russia, to guard against the possible spread of infectious diseases. Anhelina Shamlii contributed to this report. More from CBS News Go deeper with The Free Press at:
