Russia offers to help US fight infectious disease outbreaks

Russia’s consumer health watchdog said it is ready to send specialists, laboratory equipment and diagnostic tools to the United States, citing measles outbreaks and New York’s emergency declaration.

Russia is ready to help the United States fight outbreaks of infectious diseases, the country’s consumer health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor said Tuesday. “Russia is ready to provide the American side with specialists, laboratory equipment and highly effective means of diagnosis and prevention,” the agency said, adding that such assistance could help resume joint work between the two countries against infectious threats.

Measles, typhus and typhoid cited

In its statement, Rospotrebnadzor pointed to the infectious disease situation in the U.S., saying measles had significantly worsened in recent weeks in three states. It noted four measles deaths in Pennsylvania in August and New York’s emergency declaration on Oct. 5 over the spread of the disease. The agency also said seven typhus cases and 205 typhoid cases had been registered in the U.S. since the start of 2026, along with cases of legionellosis.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a State Disaster Emergency on Monday after the state confirmed 108 measles cases this year, expanding the range of health workers allowed to vaccinate and test for the disease.

A reply to Trump’s offer

The offer came a day after President Donald Trump said the U.S. would help Russia as much as it could after an employee of the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute of Siberia and the Far East fell ill with what was described as pneumonia. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov welcomed the remarks on Tuesday, saying, “It is always very good when mutual assistance is offered,” and referred questions about the case to Rospotrebnadzor, which said the sanitary and epidemiological situation in the region was stable.