By Joshua Tosin Ogunsakin 
Batyr Berdyklychev, the Head of the World Health Organisation, WHO, country office in Russia, has dismissed rumours of a new virus in the country, local media reported Friday.
Berdyklychev insisted that the recent suspected cases in Russia were caused by the known bacterial infection of mycoplasma pneumonia.
According to him, the WHO had requested related data from Russian authorities in response to the reports of patients coughing up blood, NAN reports.
“Following investigations, including laboratory confirmation, it was determined that the five reported cases in Moscow and the Moscow region were caused by mycoplasma pneumonia,” Berdyklychev said.
“This is not a new virus, and the number of cases doesn’t pose an increased epidemiological risk.”
“This is a very good example of the fact that the Russian Federation has set up a reliable epidemiological surveillance system,” he added.