This flu in Kharkiv is definitely worth pursuing, because the vector of CCHF does not occur above 50 deg. N latitude. But birds can vector both flu and CCHF. These viruses vectored into Russia would be a perfect crime difficult to trace.As I'm reading about the Lugar Labs I learned that in 2016, there was an outbreak of "California Flu" in Kharkov that killed 20 soldiers and hospitalized over 200 others.
Curiouser and curiouser.
Makes me wonder if there are any similar labs near the Ebola River in Congo. Might explain why, even after 40 years of exhaustive searching, we've yet to identify the Ebola host species
The American Cairns links to the Ebola river. And Russian media has said Carins put banana leaves on his scalpel wound when he contracted ebola and lived to tell about it In 1977. USMB search: cairns.