Russia Moves to Tamp Down Rumors About Plague Outbreak in Siberia

The country’s consumer watchdog has said only that “an employee of an anti-plague institute in the Irkutsk Region” contracted pneumonia. Rumors and unconfirmed reports sounded a more ominous note.An infectious-diseases hospital in the town of Shelekhov, Russia, on Monday. The mayor has urged residents “not to spread rumors.”