Russia denies second infection in suspected Siberian plague case

Russia's public health watchdog denied Thursday that a lab worker who died in Siberia had infected another person, dismissing reports of a second case as fake amid global concerns about suspected pneumonic plague. Rospotrebnadzor stated extensive testing found no evidence the worker's illness was caused by pathogens she handled, and it informed the World Health Organization that no plague case has been registered in the Irkutsk region. The agency confirmed she was vaccinated and that safety measures were observed. The WHO said it doesn't know what caused the woman's Oct. 2 death and has requested more information, as Russian authorities have kept details secret and state media have largely avoided the subject.