US formally asks Russia for information about possible plague outbreak, death a lab

The State Department has formally asked Russia asking for more information about a possible outbreak at an anti-plague research laboratory in Siberia that also is reportedly related to the death of a lab worker. 

“We have officially requested additional information from the Russian government,” the department said  Tuesday. “We are also in official communication with other countries around the world to share information.”

In addition, Secretary of State Marco Rubio publicly said during a trip Tuesday to Iceland that the United States is monitoring the situation.

“I think it’s incumbent upon Russia to obviously share more information with the world,” he said. “We’re watching it very ​closely, hour by hour.”

The request was sent via a confidential diplomatic communication, known as a démarche, warning that failure to disclose information violates Moscow's international health obligations, according to The Telegraph.

The British newspaper has also identified the lab worker as Darya Shipilova and reports she died after breaking a test tube containing the pathogen that causes pneumonic plague.

Roughly 200 people have been placed in quarantine in connection to the matter, with accusations of a cover up by Russian authorities after public health notices were deleted.