US scientist raises alarm over Russia plague outbreak reports: 'I have to say - I'm concerned'

US scientist Ashish Jha has raised concerns over reports of a possible plague-related laboratory incident in Russia's Siberian region of Irkutsk, saying the circumstances warrant greater transparency from Moscow.

Jha, a US scientist and co-founder of BioRadar, said in a detailed post on Monday that he had been tracking reports about the Irkutsk laboratory for several days and had been gathering facts before commenting.

"Now that I have, I have to say — I'm concerned," Jha wrote on X.

Read More: Russia plague outbreak scare: Pneumonic or bubonic? Key differences, symptoms & risks

What is reportedly known

According to reports cited by Jha, a 28-year-old technician at an "anti-plague institute" broke a tube containing a plague pathogen on September 25. She died on October 1 or 2.

Nearly 200 people have reportedly been placed under medical isolation or observation, while authorities have begun quarantine measures and contact tracing.

The woman reportedly developed severe pneumonia and died shortly after being hospitalised. Russian authorities have not publicly confirmed that pneumonic plague was the cause of her illness.

Reports have pointed to a possible laboratory exposure involving Yersinia pestis, the bacterium that causes plague. The circumstances of the reported exposure have not been independently confirmed.

Bubonic and pneumonic plague are forms of the same disease caused by the same bacterium. They affect different parts of the body and have different implications for transmission.

Jha raises biological weapons concern

The US biosecurity expert said the incident was particularly concerning because Russia is known to have an active military biological weapons programme.

"And our intelligence agencies have publicly stated that their program has been expanding substantially in recent years," he wrote.

He also pointed to reports of FSB involvement in the response, including security services accompanying ambulances carrying people who may have been exposed.

"If accurate, that's not the posture of a routine natural outbreak, even a normal lab accident," Jha said.

He stressed that his concern was not that a country with a biological weapons programme had decided to use it. "Not that a country with a weapons program deciding to use it. That we have an accidental release from a deliberate program," he wrote.

Jha said US intelligence assessments indicate that Russian scientists continue to develop biological weapons capabilities. Those programs, he added, operate in secret. "Nobody outside inspects them and nobody inside has much incentive to admit when something goes wrong."

'We've been here before'

Jha cited the 1979 anthrax outbreak in Sverdlovsk, where anthrax spores escaped from a Soviet military facility. At least 66 people died, he said, adding that it took years for the incident to become public.

"This was all in the old era - before AI and biological engineering capabilities became widespread," he wrote.

The US scientist said the growing number of laboratories working with dangerous pathogens worldwide meant incidents could become more frequent.

"The number of labs working on dangerous pathogens is growing worldwide. That means incidents like this will happen more often in the months and years ahead," he said.

Jha called on Russian authorities to provide more information about what happened in Irkutsk. "Russian authorities owe the world more transparency on exactly what happened in Irkutsk," he wrote.

He also urged governments to strengthen biodefence measures, saying officials should assume that they may not know the full truth about the incident.