Donald Trump Is ‘Concerned’ About Russia Plague-Like Outbreak After COVID

President Donald Trump is publicly expressing his admitted worries about a recent plague-like outbreak in Russia.

“Are you concerned about the outbreak in Russia?” a reporter asked Trump, 80, on Monday, October 5, outside of the White House in Washington, D.C.

Trump responded that he is concerned, but hasn’t had the chance to speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin about the reported health issue.

“The pneumonia plague, if you call it a plague,” he told the press gaggle. “I hate to see them having it. It’s a rough disease. That’s a disease we used to be able to control. But somehow those microbes have gotten stronger and smarter. They’re like an army.”

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A pneumonic plague is a lung-based epidemic and the most virulent form of plague, per the World Health Organization. Incubation for the disease can be as short as 24 hours and can be transmitted via respiratory particles. Chances of recovery are high if the illness is detected and treated within 24 hours of the first onset of symptoms.

Trump added that despite making “great advancement” in medicine, the “germs have really become relatively stronger than they were.”

“Things that used to work on pneumonia don’t work as well anymore,” he said. “But we’ll help them.”

Trump’s comments come days after reports that a female staffer at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute of Siberia and the Far East died from a “pneumonia of undetermined” origin last week. Regional governor Igor Kobsev stated that no “microorganisms linked to the employee’s professional activities were detected” in the woman’s body, per NBC News.

One Russian hospital facility was subsequently placed under quarantine and nearly 200 people who had been in contact with the late woman were under medical observation. Kobsev stated that there had been “no new cases” of illness at the time of publication.

A spokesperson for the State Department released a statement to NBC News in the wake of the alleged outbreak, stating, “Many details have not been confirmed. We encourage Russian authorities to share accurate information quickly and openly.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio also addressed the situation in Russia during a Monday press conference.

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“We know what we know, obviously, about whatever the Russians have provided, which is it seems that there was a worker at the lab that was infected, and there’s concern that that could have spread, at least internally,” Rubio, 55, told reporters. “So you’ve seen them do quarantines with this – of that nature. There’s very limited travel between the U.S. and Russia, obviously. But like anything else, something like that gets out, it could quickly spread. So we’re watching and monitoring it closely. I don’t think it’s cause for alarm, but it is cause for focus and a cause to just keep an eye on it, and we’re doing that.”

Trump was famously in charge during the global COVID-19 pandemic during the last year of his first presidential term. During that time of uncertainty, Trump made puzzling suggestions to the general public, including encouraging Americans to ingest disinfectants — which you should never do — to treat the disease.

In October 2020, Trump tested positive for COVID-19 after refusing to wear a mask during a September 29, 2020, presidential debate with then-candidate Joe Biden. Trump mocked Biden, now 83, for wearing a mask to the debate. The president later made a full recovery following tax-payer funded treatment at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, which did not include the use of any disinfectant.