Russia Denies Second ‘Unknown Pneumonia’ Case at Irkutsk Institute

TREE NEWS update: Russia’s Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing said on October 8 that reports of a second case of “unknown pneumonia” are untrue. The claim had circulated after an employee at the Siberia and Far East Plague Control Research Institute in Irkutsk reportedly died of the illness, with the second case said to involve a contact of that person. The agency stated the allegation does not correspond to reality.