‘Don’t think it’s bioweapon’: Trump weighs in on mysterious Siberia lab death

US president Donald Trump said the United States does not believe the death of a laboratory worker in Siberia was caused by a bioweapon, but said Washington would investigate the circumstances surrounding the case.Trump also said Russia had told the US that the situation was under control.The death of the worker at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East has raised concerns because the facility specialises in studying plague. Russia has said the woman died of pneumonia and that extensive testing found no evidence that her illness was caused by any of the pathogens she worked with.However, the World Health Organisation has said it still does not know what caused the woman's illness and has asked Russia for more information. Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO director of Epidemic and Pandemic Management, said the agency did not know the “causative agent” behind the woman's death and added, “this is why we need more information”.Russian authorities have said no cases of plague have recently been registered in the Irkutsk region. They have also reported contact tracing, medical monitoring and laboratory testing, with no dangerous infectious pathogens detected among the contacts.The case has nevertheless drawn international attention amid reports that the worker developed severe pneumonia before dying on October 2. A hospital where she was treated was placed under quarantine, while people who had contact with her were monitored.The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has described the risk to Americans as extremely low, while saying it is prepared to monitor travellers arriving from the region.The WHO has continued to seek clarity on the cause of the illness, the pathogen involved and reports of another employee developing pneumonia of unknown origin.You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.