Trump says US 'looking very strongly' at reported plague case in Russia

President Donald Trump said Monday the US is closely monitoring a reported case of pneumonic plague in Russia and pledged to provide assistance.

“We’re looking at it very strongly. We just heard about it,” Trump told reporters at the White House before departing for a campaign rally in Nebraska.

"Years ago you could treat pneumonia easier, and the microbes and the germs have gotten stronger," he said. "But we'll help them. We'll help them."

The US State Department said earlier on Monday that it is monitoring reports of a fatal case of suspected pneumonic plague in Russia’s Irkutsk region with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other agencies.

Russian authorities have said the case involved pneumonia of unknown etiology and that no accidents were detected at a local anti-plague research institute.