Covid-like mystery virus leaves sufferers coughing up blood… with patients in multiple cities affected

A mystery outbreak that is leaving patients coughing up blood and with a severe fever has been reported in Russia.

Local media and social media posts say the illness begins with Covid-like symptoms such as weakness or muscle aches.

But within five days, these progress to a fever of up to 102.2F (39C) and a persistent, bloody cough.

Posts on Telegram, the Russian messaging service, say cases have been reported in multiple cities, but officials have not confirmed how many cases or hospitalizations have been recorded.

The posts also claim that patients have tested negative for Covid and the flu, with doctors said to be writing down a diagnosis of ‘acute upper respiratory tract infection of unspecified origin.’

The outbreak was first reported in the Telegram group SHOT, which allegedly includes members of Russia’s federal agencies, and was then reported on by local media.

Today, Russian health officials have denied there is an outbreak, saying they have found ‘no evidence of a new or unidentified virus circulating [in Russia]’.

In the post on the messaging app, revealed on March 29 and viewed more than 430,000 times, there is a warning over a mystery virus outbreak.

One post on the app shows a woman, identified only as Alexandra, who said she had been infected in the mystery outbreak.

The translated post reads: ‘An unknown virus has appeared in Russia. As SHOT has learned, those infected have been suffering from high fever and severe coughing up blood for weeks, while they have negative tests for Covid and flu.

‘The symptoms of those who fall ill are the same: it all starts with the usual aches and weakness, but after a couple of days the virus “cuts down” and it is impossible to get out of bed. Accompanied by a temperature of up to 39 degrees, Russians note a severe cough to tears.’

Alexandra said that after a week of illness and taking antibiotics, her coughing fits still persisted, and on the fifth day she noticed blood when she coughed.

Her tests for Covid and flu were both negative, she said, while doctors had told her they were reporting numerous cases of a strange virus.

In the post, it was written that she may be suffering from mycoplasma pneumoniae, which can cause flu-like symptoms and pneumonia in patients. 

It is also known as ‘walking pneumonia’, because it sickens patients — but not enough to leave them bedridden.

It was behind an outbreak in the US late last year affecting children, with parents saying infections were leaving their kids unable to breathe.

Rospotrebnadzor, a Russian agency that oversees public health, said it was investigating the reports.

But today has denied them, saying in a statement there was ‘no evidence of a new or unidentified virus circulating on the territory of the Russian Federation’.

It added that cases of Covid and flu were falling in Russia, while cases of pneumonia remained stable.

Gennady Onishchenko, of the Russian Academy of Sciences, told the Russian news agency TASS: ‘In St. Petersburg, we have the Pasteur Institute, which only deals with influenza, and its official report does not contain any information about any new virus.

‘Therefore, let’s not brush this information aside… [but], most likely, there is no virus, let’s not hype it up now.’

No infection control measures are reported to have been taken in Russia, while officials are said to be warning that ‘spreading unverified information about public health can lead to unnecessary panic’.

Experts outside the country have been unable to verify the reports, but have warned online that the situation in Russia is ‘very political’.

Sharon Sanders, a self-trained disease-tracker who helped track the early days of the Covid pandemic, wrote on her site FluTrackers: ‘Just a reminder… the Russia situation is very political. And disease propaganda has been used in the past — globally.

‘I have no idea if this is a big deal or a typical disease outbreak.’