Romanian physicians explain plague treatment as public radio checks pandemic rumours

The Romanian College of Physicians (CMR, Colegiul Medicilor din România, a professional medical organization) published a clarification on plague amid public discussion of the disease. Its infectious diseases commission emphasized antibiotic treatment and the need for early diagnosis and prompt treatment.

Commission chair Professor Simin Aysel Florescu said plague remains present in some regions but can now be treated effectively if detected in time. College president Professor Cătălina Poiană called for clear, medically verified public information. Their roles and comments appear in the official statement.

RADOR Radio România’s Romania Check examined new-pandemic rumours following Irkutsk reports on 9 October. The article is signed Daniela Sîrbu; Monica Ion is listed as the person who posted it. The French edition is a translation of the same check, not a separate witness account.

The newsroom cited Facebook posts drawing parallels with the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic and making conspiracy claims, which it judged unfounded. That is the fact-checking newsroom’s assessment. It relied on the WHO (World Health Organization) 6 October briefing and the Romanian physicians’ clarification. It provides no new laboratory results from Irkutsk.

The check uses WHO’s earlier risk assessment. It should be read alongside WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus’s 7 October statement that information was insufficient for a full risk assessment. The College’s medical explanation does not establish Darya Shipilova’s cause of death or announce government restrictions.

The official embedded College post timestamp corresponds to 7 October, 15:24:41 UTC (Coordinated Universal Time), or 23:24:41 in Irkutsk. The Romanian article dates the clarification to 8 October, the French edition to 7 October; both screenshot captions say 8 October. Spoken comment times are unknown. Both checks are dated 9 October; their publication and update fields show identical hours with conflicting UTC+0/UTC+3 offsets, so exact publication time is not definitively established. Added on 9 October.