US monitoring situation in Russia following death of lab worker who contracted the plague on the job

The United States began monitoring the situation in Russia regarding the death of a lab employee in the city of Shelekhov after contracting the plague while she was working.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed that the Trump administration is aware of the incident, while noting that there is no cause for alarm.

"There’s very limited travel between the US and Russia, obviously. But like anything else, something like that gets out it could certainly spread," Rubio told the media before departing for Iceland.

"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 just to keep an eye on it," the secretary of state added.

The victim, identified as Daria Shipilova, about 28 years old, admitted before her death that she accidentally broke a test tube containing live plague bacteria. After contracting the disease, she died last Thursday.

As a result of these events, regional authorities decided to quarantine hundreds of people who had contact with Shipilova after she became infected or who were working near the site of the leak. To date, none of those quarantined have shown symptoms, and test results have come back negative.