A possible outbreak of the deadly pneumonic plague has hit Russia, sparking worldwide concern.
Earlier on Monday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed that the State Department is monitoring the situation closely.
More on that here:
Now, President Trump has responded to worries about the plague spreading.
When asked by reporters about whether he is concerned, President Trump said he is taking it seriously and promised to help Russia deal with the situation.
The Hill reported:
“I hate to see them having it,” Trump told reporters before departing the White House for Nebraska. “It’s a rough disease. We used to be able to control, but somehow those microbes have gotten stronger and smarter.”
“The germs have really become relatively stronger than they were, and things that used to work on pneumonia don’t work as well anymore,” he said.
Watch what President Trump had to say here:
Q: Are you concerned about the outbreak in Russia?
Trump: I am. The pneumonia plague, if you call it. That's a disease we used to be able control. But somehow those microbes have gotten stronger and smarter. They're like an army. The germs have really become relatively stronger…
pic.twitter.com/3VKrg2ydEP
— Acyn (@Acyn)
October 5, 2026
The pneumonic plague is highly-transmissible between humans and progresses quickly.
It has an extremely high fatality rate left untreated. But, it is normally treatable with antibiotics if caught early.
That said, in the 1980s, the Soviets developed a strain of the bacterium that causes the pneumonic plague that is resistant to treatment.
At this time, we do not know if that specific, dangerous material was what was being held at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute where a female lab technician is believed to have contracted the disease.
The New York Post noted:
In the 1980s, Soviet biological warfare scientists successfully modified the bacterium responsible for pneumonic plague, Yersinia pestis, to make it resistant to antibiotics.
It’s unclear whether the biodefense lab in Irkutsk — a Biosafety Level 3 (BSL-3) facility — could have contained such potentially devastating material. BSL-4 labs typically house the most dangerous pathogens.
Trump’s comments follow years of controversy about the once-suppressed theory that COVID-19 leaked from a Chinese lab that was doing risky “gain of function” research that modified bat viruses to make them more infectious.
The origins of COVID-19 remain debated due to Chinese government secrecy.
The Russian government has not confirmed that Shipilova died of plague, but it has quarantined hospitals in the Irkutsk area, placed about 200 people who contacted the lab tech under observation, restricted public events and screened domestic travelers for fevers.
Shipilova broke a test tube days before being hospitalized on Sept. 29, the independent Moscow Times reported. She died of pneumonia Oct. 2.
Historically, pneumonic plague outbreaks have not caused global health emergencies, though the best-known flareups occurred before intercontinental airline travel.
A devastating pneumonic plague outbreak killed about 60,000 people from October 1910 to April 1911 in Manchuria. A different outbreak killed 30 in Los Angeles in 1924.
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[ H/T WLT Report ]
