The World Health Organization has advised Ukraine to destroy deadly pathogens in health labs to ward off the possible threat of spread amidst the Russian invasion.
“JUST IN – WHO advised Ukraine to destroy pathogens in “health labs” to prevent “any potential spills” into the population,” Disclose TV Tweeted.
According to the Biosecurity experts, “Russia’s movement of troops into Ukraine and bombardment of its cities have raised the risk of an escape of disease-causing pathogens, should any of those facilities be damaged.”
Like several other countries, Ukraine also has public research and health labs that have been tremendously supported by the US, WHO, and European Union to research dangerous diseases affecting humans and animals, including Covid-19. The continuous bombing and military assault on the country could lead to spillage of stored pathogens, that could be dangerous to public health.
WHO had collaborated with the war-zone country for several years to work on security practices in order to prevent “accidental or deliberate release of pathogens.”
“As part of this work, WHO has strongly recommended to the Ministry of Health in Ukraine and other responsible bodies to destroy high-threat pathogens to prevent any potential spills,” WHO told Reuters.
The United Nations agency did not reveal when it had made the recommendation to Ukraine, nor did it respond to the question of what kind of toxins or pathogens are being kept in the labs. It is yet to be determined whether the country has positively responded to the agency’s recommendations.
A Russian Foreign Ministry representative repeated the claim on Wednesday, saying that the US runs a Biowarfare lab in Ukraine, which Kyiv and the United States have repeatedly denied.
“The documents found by Russian troops in Ukraine showed an emergency attempt to erase evidence of military biological programs by destroying lab samples”, said the spokeswoman.
To that, Ukraine’s presidential spokesperson replied, “Kyiv strictly denies any such allegation.”
Moreover, The United States also denied the accusation saying, “Russia may use its claims as a pretext to deploy its own chemical or biological weapons.”
Meanwhile, WHO, whose recommendation did not point at Biowarfare, requested all the parties involved to, “Cooperate in the safe and secure disposal of any pathogens they come across, and to reach out for technical assistance as needed.”
At Russia’s request, the UN Security Council will convene on Friday to discuss Moscow’s claims of ‘US biological activities’ in Ukraine.
