CDC sees low plague risk, monitors Siberia arrivals after worker death, director says

Centers for Disease Control ‌and Prevention ​Director Erica Schwartz said on Wednesday the risk to the US from an unconfirmed pneumonic plague case in Siberia was extremely ‌low, but the agency was prepared to monitor and screen travelers.

"We are working with Department of Homeland Security, working (with) Department of State, Department of War, and other agencies within the government to make ‌sure that we know exactly if anyone from that area comes into the United States," ‌Schwartz said at the Wall Street Journal's The Future of Health event in Washington. The CDC has a port health station at the John F. Kennedy International Airport that can conduct surveillance and screening for travelers from the region ⁠entering the ​United States, she added.

The US ⁠Department of Health and Human Services did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether the agency ⁠planned to set up screening at JFK. Schwartz said there are about 200 flights per year from ​the Siberian region, though direct flights between Russia and the US have been suspended since ⁠the start of the Ukraine war in 2022.

Russia's health regulator said there were no risks of an epidemic breaking ⁠out ​in Siberia after a plague institute worker there died from pneumonia of an as-yet unestablished origin, in a case that has prompted international concern. "What we're doing from a whole ⁠of government standpoint is we're making sure that we understand exactly what that threat is," Schwartz said.

"We ⁠are very confident ⁠that the threat to the United States is extremely low." US President Donald Trump also told reporters he does not think the death is from ‌a bioweapon.