6 October 2026
President Trump spoke for the first time after a researcher at Russian plague laboratory died of ‘unknown’ infection, calling it a “big problem.” The White House said they were monitoring the situation. The researcher, a 28-year-old female laboratory technician at the Irkutsk Research Anti-Plague Institute of Siberia, in the town of Shelekhov, died after being diagnosed with a pneumonia of “unknown” origin, according to Rospotrebnadzor, the Russian agency that handles infectious disease. Rospotrebnadzor has played down the link between the death of the researcher — named in local media as Darya Shipilova — and her work. CNN unpacks the latest developments on the researchers death and the Russian response. 0:00 Trump’s comments 0:48 An infectious disease expert on what concerns him 5:28 A Russian dissident reacts to Russia’s response 6:44 A doctor on how lessons from COVID can be applied Watch 24/7 live news with CNN Headlines: https://bit.ly/4eIvlTr
