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President Trump has reiterated that the US is ready to help Russia deal with a suspected case of pneumonic plague that killed a lab worker at a Siberian plague research institute.

Some shit you should know before you dig in: If you’re unaware, Russia’s got a huge problem on their hands after 28-year-old lab technician Darya Shipilova died last week at a hospital near Irkutsk, reportedly after she cracked a vial of plague bacteria at the Anti-Plague Research Institute where she worked. Nearly 200 people who came into contact with her have been placed under observation, several hospitals have been quarantined and institute staff have been kept inside the building.

Russian officials have sent mixed messages, with one regional leader saying she may have died of plague, while Russia’s health agency now says she died of “pneumonia of unknown etiology” and that tests found no microorganisms tied to her work. Irkutsk’s governor added that none of her contacts have shown symptoms. Pneumonic plague is the only version that can pass from person to person and is usually fatal if untreated, but it can be cured with antibiotics if caught early.

What’s going on now: Speaking to reporters before leaving for Nebraska, Trump said the US is “looking at it very strongly” and will help Russia “as much as we can,” though he hasn’t spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin about it. “It’s a rough disease,” Trump said. “We used to be able to control, but somehow those microbes have gotten stronger and smarter.”

The CDC, State Department and other agencies are tracking the case, and the White House pulled together its top health and national security officials Monday, but US officials told the Washington Post that Russia’s reluctance to hand over details and reports that Russian intelligence has gotten mixed up in it have made it hard to judge the risk.

Some officials, past and present, are asking whether the institute had been tinkering with plague samples, with Ashish Jha, Biden’s former White House COVID response coordinator, saying, “We also know Russia has an active offensive biological weapons program.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the case isn’t “cause for alarm” but is “cause for focus.”

This all comes as the World Health Organization says the risk to the general public “appears to be low,” and as the Kremlin urges people to ignore “rumours” and trust Russia’s health agency.