The mother of Daria Shipilova, the 28-year-old Russian lab worker who died after handling plague bacteria, says her daughter’s death was not an accident. She claims she knows the truth about what happened at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute in Siberia.

Shipilova died of what Russian officials called pneumonia of unknown origin. Reports said she had broken a test tube containing plague bacteria days earlier. Her mother now rejects that account.

Former CDC director Robert Redfield told NewsNation that a normal lab accident would have triggered antibiotic treatment. He said the failure of treatment raises questions about whether the strain was modified to resist antibiotics.

President Donald Trump downplayed the bioweapon theory on Wednesday, saying the United States does not believe it was linked to weapons but would find out soon. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia followed international protocol and reported the case to the World Health Organization.

The WHO said the public health risk remains low for Russia and very low for the rest of Europe. It is seeking greater transparency from Moscow. Russian health officials quarantined nearly 200 contacts and found no further infections.