DISINFO: Spread of African Swine Fever from Lugar Lab to South Ossetia is bioterrorism
SUMMARY
The South Ossetian KGB stated that the cases of African Swine Fever recorded in the republic are connected with the work of the so-called Richard Lugar Public Health Center in Georgia.
The KGB drew attention to the fact that there is no information about ASF in the border villages of the neighbouring state [Georgia].
This allows us to conclude that the Georgian side deliberately keeps silent about the facts of this animal disease on its territory, since this disease is a potentially global infection that spreads very quickly, including by insect vectors.
In this regard, the KGB does not exclude that the outbreak of the ASF epidemic in South Ossetia is associated with the work of the Lugar laboratory in Georgia, which conducts research in the field of atypical forms of plague, brucellosis, anthrax, dengue fever, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever and uses pathogens, through which the Tbilisi regime carries out acts of bioterrorism against South Ossetia.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about US bio laboratories around the world and, specifically, the Lugar Lab. This message is part of a years-long disinformation campaign led by the Kremlin. No evidence is given to support the allegations.
The recently discovered cases of the swine fever virus in the Tskhinvali region has nothing to do with the Lugar Laboratory. The claim that the Lugar Lab is spreading African Swine Fever is part of a Kremlin conspiracy. The fever has not been detected in the territories controlled by Georgia since 2016.
Read the full debunk on this topic by Myth Detector.
The Lugar Lab is a frequent target of Russian disinformation. The Richard Lugar Center for Public Health Research is a facility of the National Center for Disease Control and Public Health (NCDC), which became operational in August 2013. It is a top-tiered institution in NCDC’s laboratory network and serves as a reference laboratory for Georgia’s public health system. Read more about Lugar lab on Myth Detector.