There is not a single laboratory on Ukrainian territory that has preserved very dangerous pathogens.
Two years have passed since the beginning of the global pandemic , the causes of which are still controversial. And on March 11, Reuters published a rather scary story: WHO allegedly advises Ukraine to destroy all dangerous pathogens in its laboratories to reduce (or better rule out) the chances of these pathogens escaping in the event of an attack by the Russian army.
TIME writes that the risk of such a catastrophe: due to accident or intentional actions – is real, but, fortunately, not as great as it may seem. First , there is no laboratory in Ukraine with the 4th level of biological safety (P4). These are the most secure laboratories where the most dangerous pathogens can be kept (for example, the latest smallpox samples on the planet). And second , many pathogens in lower-level laboratories are vulnerable to heat and light. This means that they are unlikely to be able to “escape far” from laboratories that have special precautions just in case such situations occur.
According to Philippa Lentzos, director of the Center for Scientific and Safe Research at King's College London, the risk that the chaos of war will release dangerous pathogens is theoretically possible. But in Ukraine it is “extremely unlikely.” Even in peacetime, incidents in laboratories around the world that make people sick are more common than we would like. In December, an employee of such an institution in Taiwan contracted a coronavirus strain of Delta. The case was investigated and fully monitored down to the cause – the bite of a laboratory mouse.
Leaks in laboratories can have more serious consequences. Gregory Lewis, head of the Biosafety Study Group at the Institute for the Future of Humanity at Oxford University, said the last known death from smallpox occurred in 1978. And because of a laboratory leak in the UK.
“Globally, we are not good enough. We all need improvement, “Lewis said.
In 2020, the chief sanitary doctor of Ukraine Igor Kuzin told Ukrainian television that there are only two P3 class laboratories in the country. Such laboratories, although not the highest security risk, are still designed to store pathogens that can spread through the air and cause deadly diseases. Military conditions can undermine precautions in such laboratories. And if someone accidentally or somehow gets infected, it will be difficult to treat such people during the war. This is due to the fact that, as explained by the Vice President of the Nuclear Threat Initiative Zeili Severance, access to medicine may be limited during the war.
However, Severens and Lentzos explain that there are a number of factors that make the risks to Ukraine's biological research infrastructure negligible. For example, in low-security laboratories, as in most Ukrainian laboratories, scientists deactivate pathogens to study them. And in more secure P3 laboratories, there are additional barriers that prevent dangerous agents from escaping. According to WHO standards, they are equipped with a variety of automatically closing doors, airtight windows and decontamination equipment. Lentzos says that lab protection is multilevel in case one thing doesn't work, the pathogen will be stopped by the following obstacles.
Severens also doubts that the Russian government will decide to steal something from the laboratories to infect other people. First of all, because the Russian ecosystem is similar to the Ukrainian one. So Russian laboratories are full of pathogens that can be found in Ukraine. Russia is also one of the few countries that has laboratories with the highest level of P4 protection. Second, biological attacks are not accidentally so rare. Because pathogens are “very difficult to spread,” they are “unpredictable,” says Lentzos. Unlike conventional weapons, pathogens cannot be controlled. This means that there is no way to protect one's own troops from such “weapons.”
“It's easier to create something disgusting in a test tube, but it's very difficult to use it later in battle,” Lewis explains.
It is also very unlikely that civilians will break into the laboratory in search of medicine. Lentzos explains that such laboratories do not usually store drugs. They are difficult to confuse with a pharmacy or hospital. In addition, spreading the pathogen from a test tube is not easy. Only people with special training understand this.
“What are you going to do with this test tube? Will you infect yourself and try to spread the disease to others? Are you throwing a test tube at people? ” Says Lentzos.
But despite this, Russia can still turn biological laboratories into a tool to harm Ukrainian society. Namely, to turn the idea of “escape” of pathogens from laboratories into a weapon of misinformation. Russia has already begun to spread rumors about alleged “biological weapons” in Ukraine. Earlier this month, Russia's Defense Ministry claimed that Kyiv appeared to be developing a secret program to develop biological weapons under the control of the US military. Soon, a number of experts, including Russian scientists, responded to this lie, emphasizing that there was no evidence of such a thing.
Severence says Ukraine has always been transparent about its research facilities and has cooperated with international organizations. But the existence of such propaganda suggests that if Russia seized the cowards from Ukrainian laboratories, it would have the opportunity to spread even greater lies that Vladimir Putin's regime could use to justify war, undermining international institutions such as the UN and sowing doubt. and distrust.
Read also: Fake about the “development of biological weapons in Ukraine” resembles Russia's strategy in Syria – The Guardian
It will be recalled that the head of the Disarmament Organization Izumi Nakamitsu said at a meeting of the Security Council that the UN does not have information on any program to create biological weapons that are being implemented in Ukraine. The representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Oleg Nikolenko also stressed that all attempts by Russia to create false excuses for war with Ukraine are doomed to failure.
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