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

MOSCOW, Oct 8 - 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. REUTERS