Secretary of State Marco Rubio implored Russia on Tuesday to share more about the death of a Russian laboratory worker that was potentially related to pneumonic plague.
“It’s incumbent upon Russia to obviously share more information with the world,” Rubio told reporters during a news conference in Iceland, using the most forceful language so far by President Donald Trump’s administration over the emerging health concern.
“That’s what they should do, and that’s what we hope they will do,” Rubio said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other U.S. agencies have been seeking to learn more about the death of the laboratory technician, who worked at an institute dedicated to studying plague.
Russian authorities have imposed quarantines on several hospitals in the area.
Nodding to the coronavirus outbreak, Rubio added: “Anytime you hear that there’s some disease that infected someone in a lab anywhere in the world, you’re going to be concerned about it, especially given recent events not so long ago.”
Rubio declined to comment on a report that the FSB, the Russian security agency, is involved in responding to the death.
“We just don’t have all the information yet,” he said.
Catch up quickly every weekday morning with a rundown of the 7 most important and interesting stories. Sign up for The 7 newsletter.
The post Rubio calls on Russia to disclose more about potential plague case appeared first on Washington Post.
