The spread of manipulative messages surrounding the fire at the Masgut Aikimbayev National Scientific Center for Especially Dangerous Infections in Almaty, which occurred on September 21, is linked to attempts to tie this real event to rumors of a purported plague case in Russia, reports infohub.kz.
According to NUR.KZ, citing the Center for Combating Disinformation, the manipulative materials have been circulating online in recent days.
"In recent days, around the real fact of the fire, some accounts are trying to link what happened to rumors of an alleged plague case in Russia, which were previously officially denied by the Russian authorities. At the same time, the very fact that the National Scientific Center for Especially Dangerous Infections has specialized laboratories is being used to create a false connection between the two events and to generate additional alarmist context," the Center for Combating Disinformation said in a statement published on its Telegram channel.
The Center for Combating Disinformation urges users not to fall for manipulation and to verify the information being spread through official sources.
Recall that on September 21, a fire was reported on the second floor of the two-story administrative building of the Almaty scientific center. According to the Emergency Situations Department, household appliances and items were burning.
The Ministry of Health later clarified that the specialized laboratories were not damaged by the fire. The rooms where laboratory work is conducted were not affected by the fire, and their hermeticity was not compromised. There is no threat of the spread of infectious diseases and no danger to the population.
Recently, media reported that in Russia's Irkutsk region, an employee of an anti-plague institute died with suspected plague. Later, Rospotrebnadzor stated that she died of pneumonia of unspecified etiology.