‘A Cause for Focus’: Marco Rubio Speaks Out on Potential Russian Plague Outbreak

Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the potential Russian plague outbreak a “cause for focus” for the United States amid reports that a lab worker died following accidental exposure to an “unknown” pathogen.

Russian media reported that hundreds of people who came in contact with Daria Shipilova at an anti-plague research institute in Russia’s Irkutsk region have been locked down as a precautionary measure.

“We know what we know, obviously, about whatever the Russians have provided, which is it seems that it was a worker at the lab that was infected, and there’s concern that that, you know, could have spread, at least internally, so you see them do quarantine [unintelligible] of that nature,” Rubio said during a gaggle at Joint Base Andrews on his way to Iceland.

“But here’s very limited travel between the US and Russia, obviously, but like anything else, something like that gets out it could quickly spread, so we’re watching and monitoring it closely. I don’t think it’s cause for alarm, but it is cause for focus and a cause to just keep an eye on it, and we’re doing that,” Rubio said.

Rubio echoed a Trump administration official who told Axios earlier Monday that the White House “is aware, monitoring the outbreak, and assessing options.”

A spokesperson told CNN in a statement, “We are monitoring the situation closely with the CDC and our other interagency partners. Many details have not been confirmed. We encourage Russian authorities to share accurate information quickly and openly.”

Russian media reported that Shipilova was reportedly exposed on September 25 after breaking a test tube containing a sample of the pneumonic plague pathogen. She was hospitalized with severe pneumonia of “unknown origin” and died overnight between October 1 and October 2.

Russia’s public health agency would not confirm that Shipilova contracted plague, but Irkutsk’s governor confirmed that an anti-epidemic commission had convened over a “suspected case of a particularly dangerous infection.” Axios reported that those in contact with Shipilova have tested negative for the illness.

Watch the clip above via Fox News.

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