World Health Organisation (WHO) chiefs have warned of an ‘extremely serious’ situation and ‘huge biological risk’ after a Sudanese militia group seized a major biolab containing polio, cholera and measles samples.
The fighters seized the National Public Health Laboratory located in the capital Khartoum and scientists looking after the pathogens cannot access the lab, reports say.
This comes amid a US-brokered ceasefire between Sudan’s warring generals as foreign nations step up efforts to evacuate their citizens from the war-torn nation.
“There is a huge biological risk associated with the occupation of the central public health lab… by one of the fighting parties,” WHO chief Dr Nima Saeed Abid said.
“This is the main concern: no accessibility to the lab technicians to go to the lab and safely contain the biological material and substances available,” the WHO chief added.
Noting that the seized facility contains samples of diseases including polio, cholera and measles, the WHO chief warned that the release of such a pathogen amid the ongoing chaos could be devastating.
Ten days of heavy fighting until Monday — including air strikes and artillery barrages — have killed hundreds of people, many of them civilians, and left some neighbourhoods of greater Khartoum in ruins.
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