Ukraine should destroy 'high-threat' pathogens, WHO says

The World Health Organization recommended that Ukrainian public health labs destroy high-threat pathogens to prevent potential spills during the ongoing Russian invasion.

The WHO worked with Ukrainian public health labs to establish security protocols to prevent accidental or deliberate release of pathogens.

The agency advised all affected parties to reach out for technical assistance if they needed it.

There are 6 superbugs to watch out for.

The WHO didn't say when the recommendation was issued or which pathogens would need to be destroyed. The embassy in Washington, D.C. did not respond to requests for comment.

In order to understand the inner workings of pathogens and toxins, public health labs in Ukraine and elsewhere work with them, as well as the ways in which their damaging effects might be countered with medical treatments. The U.S., European Union and the WHO support the labs in Ukraine.

The WHO email did not mention the pathogens that could be used for biowarfare, which Russia has long claimed are present in Ukrainian labs that receive U.S. support.

Maria Zakharova, a Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman, said earlier this week that the U.S. operates a biowarfare lab out of Ukraine. The Ukrainian health ministry ordered the destruction of plague samples before the start of the invasion, according to Zakhorova. Both the U.S. and Ukraine denied these claims.

Russia has been looking at the labs in Ukraine for a long time. The Science Media Centre, an organization that provides expert comments from scientists on timely issues and science-related news, was told by Dr. Hay that he had seen no evidence to support Russia's claims.

On March 9, the Associated Press reported that the Russian deputy UN ambassador repeated her accusation. The UN Security Council was scheduled to meet on Friday to discuss military biological activities of the U.S. on the territory of Ukraine.

This is exactly the kind of false flag effort that the U.S. Mission to the United Nations warned Russia about.

The UN spokesman said that the WHO was unaware of any activity on the part of the Ukrainian government that was inconsistent with its international treaty obligations.

Hay told the Science Media Centre that developing the agents Russia alleges Ukraine is working on would be a clear violation of the Biological Weapons Convention.

It was originally published on Live Science.