‘Concerning!’ Rand Paul Sounds Alarm Over Russian Plague, Questions if It’s ‘Weaponized’

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) is sounding the alarm that Russia could possibly be weaponizing the plague following a lab worker dying after reportedly being exposed to the plague.

Paul joined Fox News’ Will Cain on Tuesday to discuss the pair of mysterious deaths that Russian officials have been hesitant to release information about. The Washington Post reported that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the State Department, and the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response have all been working to learn more about the deaths.

Daria Shipilova worked at an anti-plague research facility in the Irkutsk region, and she reportedly died after being exposed to the plague on September 25 when she broke a test tube that contained a sample. Russian officials have not confirmed that her death was from the plague, but dozens of people in contact with the worker have been placed in lockdown.

Paul said:

I will tell you one thing that is disconcerting about this is that a book was written in the last year called biological war, a scenario and what happens in the book is a lab out in the east part of Russia leaks… the plague and it goes on to infect the world within days. Now that’s not what’s happening, but it’s disconcerting because this scenario was written about a year ago because people are worried about it. The plague itself happens naturally and there’s a couple hundred cases a year that get it. Most times it’s treatable with antibiotics. In this case, it wasn’t.

The senator, who is the chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, said it is “alarming” that Russians have not confirmed the cause of death, as it would be relatively easy to determine. Paul has long led the charge against Dr. Anthony Fauci and pushed allegations that Covid was created in a biolab.

Paul warned:

We do know from defectors in the 1970s and ’80 that they were weaponizing the plague so we do know that. So it is concerning, and I think we should be doing our due diligence by looking at satellite images and looking to see what their military is doing. At least in the press reports unclassified it looks like some people are insinuating there is more activity than you would normally get from one case of the plague, which makes us concerned, could it be weaponized.

A Russian official has downplayed the deaths, saying it is “low risk” and “we should be alert but not panicked.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the administration is monitoring the situation “closely,” a statement echoed by President Donald Trump on Tuesday.

“Well, we’re looking at it very strongly. We just heard about it. And they call it pneumonia,” Trump said. “And pneumonia, you know, years ago, you could treat pneumonia easier. The microbes and the germs have gotten stronger disproportionately. But we’ll help them. We’ll help as much as we can.”

Watch above via Fox News.

Jason Cohen contributed to this report.

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