The unexplained death of a laboratory worker at a Russian anti-plague research institute has revived fears about a disease most people associate with medieval history. But as concern spread online, so did confusion over whether plague was involved and, if so, whether it would be the bubonic or pneumonic form.
Some social-media users declared that the 'bubonic plague is back,' while others claimed the concern was actually pneumonic plague, sometimes accompanying those claims with alarming and inaccurate statements about its mortality and ability to spread.
