Verkhnyaya Pyshma

Verkhnyaya Pyshma (Russian: Ве́рхняя Пышма́) is a town in Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia, located 1 kilometer (0.62 mi) north of Yekaterinburg.

[4] The coat of arms of the town is a griffin holding a gold mirror of Venus.

In late July 2007, the town was hit by an outburst of atypical pneumonia, with 200 infected and 170 death cases.

According to the official information, the infection was caused by Legionella pneumophila virus, which spread through the water supply network.

However, there was much speculation that biological warfare (similarly to Sverdlovsk anthrax leak in 1979), or the pollution from chemical industry, is responsible for the infection.

Fountain in Verhnyaya Pyshma on the stamps of Russia 2009