Mar 11, 2022 06:42 PM
(This post was last modified: Mar 12, 2022 08:34 AM by C C.)
https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/03/...-russians/
INTRO: The World Health Organization has advised officials in Ukraine to destroy any high-risk pathogens housed in public health laboratories in order to prevent their release amid the Russian onslaught, according to a report by Reuters.
The agency said that it has worked with Ukrainian officials for years to promote security practices at its laboratories to prevent "accidental or deliberate release of pathogens." As part of that longstanding 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," the agency said in an email to Reuters. The WHO did not clarify when it made that recommendation or if it was carried out.
The news follows Senate testimony on Tuesday by Victoria Nuland, US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs, who said that the US is "quite concerned" that Russian troops will seek out Ukraine's biological research laboratories to seize control of any potentially dangerous samples.
"Ukraine has biological research facilities, which in fact we are now quite concerned [that] Russian troops, Russian forces may be seeking to gain control of," Nuland said in the hearing held by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "So, we are working with the Ukrainians on how they can prevent any of those research materials from falling into the hands of Russian forces, should they approach." (MORE - missing details)
RELATED (scivillage): Is a Russian disinformation campaign a prelude to a Russian bioweapons attack?
INTRO: The World Health Organization has advised officials in Ukraine to destroy any high-risk pathogens housed in public health laboratories in order to prevent their release amid the Russian onslaught, according to a report by Reuters.
The agency said that it has worked with Ukrainian officials for years to promote security practices at its laboratories to prevent "accidental or deliberate release of pathogens." As part of that longstanding 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," the agency said in an email to Reuters. The WHO did not clarify when it made that recommendation or if it was carried out.
The news follows Senate testimony on Tuesday by Victoria Nuland, US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs, who said that the US is "quite concerned" that Russian troops will seek out Ukraine's biological research laboratories to seize control of any potentially dangerous samples.
"Ukraine has biological research facilities, which in fact we are now quite concerned [that] Russian troops, Russian forces may be seeking to gain control of," Nuland said in the hearing held by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "So, we are working with the Ukrainians on how they can prevent any of those research materials from falling into the hands of Russian forces, should they approach." (MORE - missing details)
RELATED (scivillage): Is a Russian disinformation campaign a prelude to a Russian bioweapons attack?