Topic: Lugar Laboratory

A news report features the director of Georgia's Lugar Laboratory denying Russian claims that the facility is used to develop biological weapons. Pro-Kremlin media had alleged the lab was experimenting with the Zika virus, killer mosquitoes, and marmorated stink bugs. The director maintains the lab's high-level status is strictly for diagnosing infectious diseases like Ebola and Zika.

Al Jazeera reported on Russian claims that the U.S.-funded Lugar Laboratory in Georgia is developing biological weapons, including the propagation of "killer mosquitoes" and "marmorated stink bugs." While the lab director denied these allegations, the report highlighted the ongoing information war between the Kremlin and the West regarding public health research in former Soviet territories.