Russia: There Was No Accident at Anti-Plague Lab

Russia is urging citizens to tune out the speculation and stick to the official line after the death of a 28-year-old scientist who worked at a Siberian anti-plague lab, CBS News reports. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the country's health watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, is handling the case and urged the public to rely on its "highly qualified professionals." Russian reports identified the researcher as Darya Shipilova, who worked at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute and died of severe pneumonia on Oct. 2.

Early local posts suggested she may have contracted pneumonic plague after breaking a test tube containing the bacteria that causes the illness, but those were later edited or deleted. Rospotrebnadzor now says nearly 200 contacts were tested, no dangerous pathogens were found, and there was no lab accident. The WHO and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio both described the public health risk as low but worth monitoring. US President Trump told reporters Monday that the US would help Russia "as much as we can," the Washington Post reports. The State Department and the CDC say they are monitoring the case, ABC News reports.