The Russian authorities have rejected the existence of a second infection related to the alleged outbreak of plague in the Siberian region of Irkutsk, following the death of a scientist from a laboratory in what is considered a possible accident, and after having pointed out that no dangerous pathogens had been found among the people who had contact with her.
The Federal Service for Surveillance of Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing of Russia (Rospotrebnadzor) has denounced the "false information" about "a second case in someone who had contact with an employee of the Irkutsk Plague Institute who was previously diagnosed with pneumonia."
"This information is not true," the agency has emphasized, while the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media (Roskomnadzor) has indicated that it will conduct an investigation to determine the origin of such publications, according to the Russian news agency Interfax.
In recent days, Russia has informed the World Health Organization (WHO) that no cases of pneumonic plague have been confirmed in Irkutsk and that "high-risk pathogens" have also not been found among the contacts of the researcher who died in a laboratory accident in Shélejov, once the medical observation period has ended.
Despite this, both the WHO and several countries, including the United States, have called for more transparency and additional data regarding what occurred. The UN health organization has also offered support to Moscow to monitor the situation in the area and to deepen the analyses regarding the death of the specialist, attributed to "pneumonia of unknown etiology."