Rubio urges Russia to share more information on plague lab worker's death
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has called on Russia to provide transparency regarding the death of a lab worker at a plague research institute in Siberia. While Russian officials claim the death was due to pneumonia and deny any plague outbreak, international concern persists regarding potential pathogen exposure.
Why it matters
The incident raises significant global health security concerns regarding laboratory safety protocols and the transparency of state-run biological research facilities.
Image source, AFP via Getty Images Image caption, The victim was working at the anti-plague institute in the Siberia city of Irkutsk
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has urged Russia to release more information about the death of a lab worker at a plague research centre in Siberia.
The incident has sparked a flurry of speculation about the circumstances in which the 28-year-old woman died.
Russian officials have said they are still investigating the cause of the death but those who came into contact with the victim all tested negative to pneumonic plague.
"I think it's incumbent upon Russia to obviously share more information with the world," Rubio told reporters. "We're watching it very closely, hour by hour."
Figure caption, Watch: What Russia is saying about plague researcher death
Reports first emerged on Friday of almost 200 people being placed under observation in Siberia's Irkutsk region following the death.
Also covering this story
10 other newsrooms covered this event. We read each version separately.
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