US offers aid to Russia after suspected plague death in Siberia

President Donald Trump said the US is ready to assist Russia with a suspected pneumonic plague outbreak in Siberia, following the death of a lab worker there. He noted he had not yet spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin about the offer. Russian authorities have quarantined a hospital and are monitoring nearly 200 contacts after the death of 28-year-old laboratory technician Darya Shipilova at a plague research institute in Irkutsk. The World Health Organization said the public health risk appears low, and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio echoed that it is not cause for alarm. Pneumonic plague, caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, is highly infectious and can be fatal within one to six days if untreated, though antibiotics can cure it if administered early. The US State Department encouraged Russian authorities to share accurate information quickly and openly.