Kentucky Health Secretary Dr. Steven Stack told reporters Wednesday that state health officials are keeping a close eye on the case, which Russian officials have sought to downplay in recent statements.
"At the moment, let me first assure you that we have no evidence that there's any danger or risk to the American people or the Kentucky people at this time, but it's important for us to remain vigilant.
Our team here will continue to participate in all the convening and collaborative calls that we do with fellow states and the federal government," Stack said.
Stack pointed to the incident as a "perfect example" of why a robust public health system is vital to keeping people safe.
Yet, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear sounded far from confident in the Trump administration's ability to properly handle any kind of future disease outbreak.
"With current leadership of (Health and Human Services) under Robert Kennedy Jr., it would be disastrous if we had another pandemic or outbreak at the moment. I mean, we're losing people to measles, something that we had basically cured through a vaccine until this administration came along," Beshear added.
The Associated Press reports a Russian official on Thursday sought to turn the page on the suspicious death of the lab worker in Siberia, saying a quarantine and other preventive measures have been completed with no dangerous pathogens detected. Russia's public health watchdog is also denying reports of a second infection.