WHO Warns of “Huge Biological Risk” After Sudan Fighters Seize Lab
The WHO warned Tuesday (April 25) of a “huge biological risk” after Sudanese fighters seized the National Public Health Laboratory in the capital Khartoum.
Heavy clashes erupted between the Sudanese military and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the paramilitary group battling the army for control of the country, according to CNN.
A high-ranking medical source told CNN that the lab, which contains samples of diseases and other biological material, had been taken over by RSF forces.
The WHO did not appoint blame for the lab seizure but said medical technicians no longer had access to the facility.
The RSF has denied taking control of the lab, telling CNN in a statement on Wednesday (April 26) it had “no control over the laboratory.”
Nima Saeed Abid, the WHO representative in Sudan, described the development as “extremely dangerous because we have polio isolates in the lab, we have measles isolates in the lab, we have cholera isolates in the lab.”
“There is a huge biological risk associated with the occupation of the central public health lab in Khartoum by one of the fighting parties,” he added.
The WHO said in a statement to CNN that “trained laboratory technicians no longer have access to the laboratory” and that the facility had suffered power cuts, meaning “it is not possible to properly manage the biological materials that are stored in the laboratory for medical purposes.”
Source: CNN
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