Russia says reports of second case linked to Siberian plague lab are false

Russia's health ​regulator denied on Thursday that someone ​had fallen ill after ‌coming ​into contact with a worker at a plague research laboratory in Siberia who died last week.

In a statement ‌published by Russian news agencies, the regulator denied what it called "fake information circulating on social media regarding a second case of illness". It said it had completed ‌checks on all the contacts of the dead woman, adding: "No health issues ‌related to an infectious disease were detected, and the results of nearly 5,000 laboratory tests showed no dangerous pathogenic microorganisms."

However, the regulator has yet to state definitively - despite pressure from the ⁠World ​Health Organization and ⁠the United States - whether the death of 28-year-old lab worker Darya Shipilova on October 2 was ⁠caused by plague. So far the authorities have stated only that she died from pneumonia, ​the origin of which has not yet been established.

Russian authorities say ⁠there is no risk of an epidemic breaking out, but their response so far has failed ⁠to ​allay international concerns. The WHO said on Wednesday it had asked Russia to verify "media reports of a second employee with pneumonia of undetermined cause".

The ⁠WHO based its request on two reports - one by Russian outlet starhit.ru, which mostly ⁠covers celebrity ⁠news, and the other on a story citing unnamed Russian media from a British newspaper, the Daily Mail.