Messages began to spread on social networks that the first cases of plague infection were allegedly recorded in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug (KhMAO) - Ugra. However, this data is fake. In particular, on October 5 in the Telegram channel “SURgut | KHMAO-YUGRA”, which has only 266 subscribers, a photo of a form appeared indicating a positive test result for plague microbes.
The author of the channel said that this “document” was sent to the channel’s proposal. Who exactly did this is unknown. It only says that, according to the sender, the tests were done in Khanty-Maksiysk, and the photo was sent by relatives from the company. The paper says that the test was taken by a man, a native of Uzbekistan.
At the same time, it is emphasized that the reliability of the footage raises questions, since the person who sent it has only a few subscribers on social networks.
In a comment under this post, the official Telegram channel of the government of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug - Ugra denied rumors of plague infection.
“The Office of Rospotrebnadzor for Ugra refutes information disseminated on social networks and instant messengers about allegedly identified cases of plague in the region (including in Surgut and Khanty-Mansiysk). The information being disseminated is not true and is fake,” the message says.
October 8 in the Telegram channel “SYURgut | KHMAO-YUGRA,” which is cited by many distributors of false information, including the Telegram channel of journalist Alexander Nevzorov (included by the Ministry of Justice in the register of foreign agents, together with his wife Lydia Nevzorova is recognized as an extremist association), reported that the proposal continued to receive footage with possible fakes. One of them is supposedly a notification about the discovery of a disease in a schoolboy from Khanty-Mansiysk.
Also, a message about the student was published by the VKontakte account “People's Informator | Veliky Novgorod and region" (156 subscribers). There was information posted there from a subscriber who wished to remain anonymous that his son had allegedly been diagnosed with the plague. “I came home from school, started coughing, I thought it was just a cold, but I started having a strong fever and vomiting, I took me to the clinic, they took a test, the doctors nervously sent me to the infectious diseases hospital, then they brought me this certificate. After that, my husband and I were isolated and told to write a list of everyone with whom the child and we had contact over the last three days, but he went to school... They told me to strictly remain silent and handed the lists somewhere upstairs. My husband and I are in the hospital under enormous stress, I am very afraid for Maksimka’s life,” the message says.
At the same time, the channel indicates that to date no other supporting information on this case (the city of Khanty-Mansiysk) could be found, and therefore this data may be fake.
It is noteworthy that posts began to spread in channels with a small audience, and news was sent to them by anonymous people. The photographs of the “documents” that are attached to the posts are unclear. In addition, the information from the alleged mother of a schoolchild is written in the same language as clickbait advertising is usually written to attract attention, click on links and increase the number of subscribers. It can be concluded that these posts were intended to sow panic among Russians or attract the attention of the audience.
The Office of Rospotrebnadzor for the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug - Ugra denied information disseminated on social networks and instant messengers about allegedly identified cases of plague in the region (including in Surgut and Khanty-Mansiysk). “The information being disseminated is untrue and fake,” the department’s website says. It also published a call on Russians to be vigilant and check information only through official channels.
There is no official information about the epidemic or outbreak of plague in Russia. Rospotrebnadzor and the World Health Organization (WHO) denied these rumors.
On October 4, the press service of Rospotrebnadzor reported that the sanitary and epidemiological situation in the Irkutsk region is stable. The department emphasized that the employee of the anti-plague institute was diagnosed with pneumonia of unknown etiology, and not plague. Based on the results of extensive research, no microorganisms associated with her professional activities were identified in the material from the patient.
In turn, WHO published a position on the absence of sanitary and epidemiological risks in connection with the case of community-acquired pneumonia in Irkutsk
And the Kremlin, against the backdrop of the spread of a large number of fake messages, called for listening to the official statements of Rospotrebnadzor, “and not idle gossip and tales.”
The fake news did not spread in the media.
