Kremlin dismisses reports of second suspected plague case in Siberia
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called most media reports on the situation at a research institute in Russia's Irkutsk region false. The WHO, the US and the EU are urging Moscow to be transparent about a lab technician's death.
The Kremlin on Wednesday appeared to reject reports of a second suspected plague case in Siberia. Asked about the accounts by reporters, spokesman Dmitry Peskov said most media coverage of the situation was false information. He urged people to rely only on official statements from Russia's health watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor.
International calls for clarity
The United States, the European Union and the World Health Organization have called on Russia to be open about the reported death last week of a laboratory technician at a plague research institute in Siberia's Irkutsk region. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also asked Moscow on Wednesday to clarify media reports of a second employee with pneumonia of undetermined cause.
Peskov added that he had no information about a formal request from Washington for clarification. A source close to the matter said on Tuesday that the US had made such a request through a confidential diplomatic communication known as a demarche.
What media have reported
The Russian outlet People of Baikal reported on Friday that the dead woman, named as 28-year-old Darya Shipilova, may have contracted pneumonic plague from a broken test tube. Other media reported a possible link between her death and a lab accident at the facility. The outlet also said up to 200 people she may have been in contact with were under quarantine.
Russian authorities say the cause of death has not been confirmed. Rospotrebnadzor has denied claims, made in a document circulating online, that special measures have been introduced.
