the World Health Organization warns of “biological risks” after the occupation of a laboratory by fighters

A perilous situation. Biological hazards are “very high” in Sudan after the occupation of a national health laboratory by belligerents, alerted Tuesday April 25 the World Health Organization (WHO). “I received a phone call yesterday from the head of the central public health laboratory. It is occupied by one of the fighting parties”WHO representative in Sudan, Nima Saeed Abid, said in a videoconference.

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“They removed all the technicians from the lab which is now completely under the control of one of the fighting parties as a military base”, he added. He pointed out that the situation is “extremely dangerous” because the laboratory contains samples of the pathogens of measles, cholera and poliomyelitis. This occupation therefore presents a “enormous biohazard”, he insisted.

Attacks on the health sector

Cholera is an acute diarrheal disease from which people can die within hours if left untreated. Measles is an extremely contagious viral disease, like poliomyelitis, which largely affects children under the age of 5.

WHO has also been able to verify 14 attacks on the health sector in Sudan so far since the violence began, which have left eight people dead and two injured. “Attacks on health care are wrong and must stop”asked the organization.