The key facts

  • Onishchenko suggested that the tourists' ailment was linked to intestinal poisoning rather than a new virus
  • Tourists reported high temperature, cough and headache
  • Rospotrebnadzor requested information from Vietnam's health ministry and ATOR

The academician's comment

Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Deputy President of the Russian Academy of Education Gennady Onishchenko commented on reports that Russian tourists in Nha Trang, Vietnam, had been infected with a 'new virus'. According to him, those who fell ill 'hardly caught a new virus', and their ailment could have been intestinal poisoning caused by consuming local food and water. He added that intestinal dysfunction after drinking water is a normal reaction in any healthy person. He expressed his position to the NEWS.ru portal.

What preceded it

Reports about the problem appeared the day before: Russian tourists vacationing at the Vietnamese resort complained about an unknown virus — according to them, the ailment was accompanied by a high temperature, cough and headache. After that, Rospotrebnadzor sent a request to Vietnam's health ministry and ATOR. No official response or confirmation of the existence of a new virus is given in the publications: at this point, Onishchenko's version is an expert assessment, not the result of an investigation.

Context

Gazeta.Ru also recalls an earlier case: in August, a Russian woman contracted a sexually transmitted infection from water in Vietnam. That episode is connected with the same country, but not with the current reports of mass illness among tourists.