Nearly 200 people in Russia's Irkutsk region are under medical observation due to suspected exposure to the plague, local media reported. This follows the death of an employee at an anti-plague research institute in Irkutsk from an unknown form of the plague. Russia's public health watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, stated that the employee was diagnosed with "pneumonia of unknown etiology" and described the region's sanitary and epidemiological situation as stable. According to Axios, the White House is monitoring the suspected cases and related quarantines in Russia, with a Donald Trump administration official stating that the administration is "aware, monitoring the outbreak, and evaluating response options."