The Russian Defense Ministry demanded an investigation into the work of at least 4 American biological laboratories operating in Nigeria.
Monkeypox, a viral infection that causes mild symptoms, is endemic in 11 countries, but its spread in Europe and the United States raises concerns.
According to the footage presented by the Russian Ministry of Defense, during a briefing to member states of the annual assembly of the World Health Organization, two US-controlled biological laboratories are working in the city of Abuja, one in the city of Zaria and another in Lagos.
Igor Kirillov, commander of the radiological, chemical and biological protection forces of the Russian army, said during the briefing that according to a report issued by the World Health Organization, the West African strain of monkeypox originated in Nigeria, where the United States deployed its biological infrastructure.
Kirillov added, according to Russian media, that “there are at least 4 biological laboratories belonging to Washington in Nigeria.”
“Against the background of the numerous cases of US violations of biosecurity requirements and the facts of neglected storage of pathogenic biological materials, we call on the leadership of the World Health Organization to conduct an investigation into the activities of US-funded Nigerian laboratories in Abuja, Zaria and Lagos, and to inform the international community of its results,” the Russian official said. “.
In March, the Russian Defense Ministry accused the United States of funding research to develop biological weapons in Ukraine.
Washington responded at the time that the Kremlin’s talk about the United States establishing biological and chemical laboratories in Ukraine fell under falsehoods and media misinformation.
But Igor Kirillov once again confirmed that Russia had information about the implementation of 10 projects in Ukraine, which included work with pathogens of particularly dangerous infections and economic impact.
He noted that the Pentagon had issued an order to work on mapping especially dangerous pathogens on the territory of Ukraine, with the mandatory transfer of strain samples to the United States.
According to him, a large-scale UP-4 project was implemented in Ukraine to study the possibility of the spread of especially dangerous infection through migratory birds, and 991 biological samples were collected for the period from November 2019 to January 2020.
The World Health Organization says it is trying to find out the causes of monkeypox, which mainly affects animals.
In an interview with “Sky News Arabia”, the Russian analyst, Victor Shogali, said that the Russian forces found in Ukraine American documents on monkeypox that proved that the Americans already know about the epidemic and have plans to combat the disease, and they are preparing their laboratories in Ukraine to produce antiviral drugs for the new virus.
Shogali told “Sky News Arabia” that monkeypox appeared in Nigeria, where there are American laboratories, and the logic suggests that Washington developed these diseases in its laboratories, and they were published.
And he added, “America has biological laboratories in several countries such as Armenia, Kazakhstan and Georgia, and we do not know the diseases that Washington is preparing to strike countries, within the so-called biological and viral war, and Russia is at the heart of the American goal.”
Officials at the World Health Organization said that there is no need for universal vaccination of monkeypox virus at the present time, but the real need is the necessity of vaccinating contacts of infected people wherever available.
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