Russia dismisses reports of second Siberian pneumonic plague case as false information

The Kremlin said media reports of a second suspected pneumonic plague case in Siberia are false, with spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stating most coverage is misinformation, while Rospotrebnadzor reported no infections among staff after a plague institute worker died of pneumonia of unknown cause.

The World Health Organization has asked Russia to formally answer its inquiry about the alleged second case, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention described the risk to the United States as extremely low, noting a CDC health station at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport can screen travelers from the Siberian region, which sees about 200 visitors per year.