Claims extracted
19
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
21%
4 of 19 hedged
("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
66/100
BBC News's corrections and
hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
114
Health
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
- Published
The US says it is closely monitoring the case of a Russian lab technician who died at a plague research centre in Siberia.
asserted
who → publish → Siberia
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said there was concern the incident could have led to the spread of pneumonic plague, but that there was no cause for alarm.
Announcing the cause of death as "pneumonia of undetermined etiology", Irkutsk's governor said that "no micro-organisms" linked to the woman's work had been found "in her biological samples".
Unconfirmed reports had suggested the woman fell ill either after breaking a test tube containing the pathogen or following a field trip to a region where plague is found naturally among wild rodents.
No other cases of staff from the plague institute seeking medical attention since her death had been reported, Irkutsk governor Igor Kobzev said, quoting Russia's consumer and health watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor.
uncertain
Kobzev → say → watchdog
The watchdog said a biological safety team had inspected the Anti-Plague Institute of Siberia and the Far East in Irkutsk and found no emergency situation there.
asserted
team → say → situation
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov urged people not to "listen to various rumours" but "rely on Rospotrebnadzor's official statements" instead.
asserted
Peskov → urge → statements
Russian media reported last week that nearly 200 people known to have had contact with the dead woman were under medical observation as a precaution.
asserted
people → report → precaution
Asked by a reporter for an "update on the suspected plague case in Russia", Rubio said: "It seems that there was a worker at the lab that was infected and there's concern that that, you know, could have spread, at least internally - you've seen them do quarantine of this and that nature.
"
uncertain
them → ask → this
If something like that gets out, it can quickly spread.
asserted
it → get → that
So we're watching and monitoring it closely.
asserted
we → watch → it
I don't think it's cause for alarm, but it is cause for focus and the cause to just keep an eye on it and we're doing that."
asserted
we → think → that
The woman who died, whose first name was given by Russian media as Daria and who was in her late twenties, had recently visited the Buryatia region on the border with Mongolia.
asserted
who → die → Mongolia
The plague bacterium or Yersinia pestis, external, which killed up to half the population of Europe in the 14th Century when it was known as the Black Death, is found among rodents such as marmots in the area.
asserted
it → kill → area
It was in response to an outbreak in the 1920s that the Anti-Plague Institute of Siberia and the Far East, external was founded just over 100 years ago.
asserted
Institute → found → Siberia
Dr Simon Clarke, an associate professor in cellular microbiology at the University of Reading, told BBC Radio 4's PM programme that the pneumonic version of Yersinia pestis was nearly always fatal if left untreated, but could be overcome with antibiotics.
uncertain
version → tell → antibiotics
"Pneumonic plague can transmit from person to person and that is why there is the concern around this," he said.
asserted
he → transmit → this
He added: "But of course people's thought with any outbreak of infectious disease at all runs to... lockdowns and Covid and that is just not what's going to happen here."
asserted
what → add → lockdowns
"People think, 'Oh the plague, that's gone, that went hundreds of years ago,' but it hasn't," Clarke said.
"
asserted
Clarke → think → years
It's still around and in certain parts of the world, it's a threat to human health and that's why they need to study it."
asserted
they → need → it
Asked if the pathogen might have been studied for potential use as a bio-weapon, the scientist agreed it was possible.
uncertain
it → ask → weapon
"Because this is Russia people's thoughts are running to that, but I think my earlier explanation is probably more likely," Clarke said.
asserted
Clarke → run → that
The Aporia
