Our Russian Plague Conversation with Dr. Cindy Vindman

Today I was joined by Biomedical Researcher (and my sister-in-law) Dr. Cindy Vindman for a discussion on the death of a 28-year-old junior researcher at Irkutsk's Anti-Plague Institute. Russian authorities have quarantined 200 staff members across six hospitals and FSB agents have been deployed for the containment operation. Dr. Cindy stressed that plague is a treatable bacterium and that this strain is unlikely to become a pandemic - however, Russia’s lack of transparency, history of disinformation, and lingering concerns about its bioweapons programs means that the cause of death needs independent verification and the United States needs greater biosecurity preparedness.

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