The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, drew attention today, November 10, to an investigation by the American portal The Intercept on how many violations biologists in American virological laboratories allow when handling dangerous pathogens.
“Hundreds (!) Of serious incidents have been reported that have occurred in American biological laboratories over the past two decades,” the diplomat wrote on her Telegram channel, noting that “reporters sifted through more than five and a half pages of government document reports, including reports from national health institutes, and came to horrific conclusions.”
Leaks also occur in institutions with the highest degree of protection (BSL-4), which contain the most dangerous and highly contagious deadly strains, Zakharova said. There are reports of real cases of infection, such as happened with a University of Washington graduate student who, following a medical error, was infected with the chikungunya virus. And in 2010, following an autoclave failure, the University of California laboratory staff had every chance of being infected with a lethal version of SARS, but fortunately, nothing happened. Cases of “cascade failures” are also reported, which can directly threaten the epidemiological situation in the States.
“And now it’s not about Covid-19. If such criminal negligence reigns in biolabs directly on American territory, imagine how American scientists do not care how the strains are protected in other countries, – commented the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry. “And if there are leaks, this will be a great opportunity to conduct external participant observation (for scientific purposes only, of course), and thus also sell medicines to the affected population.”
“A winning lottery. Mortal”, he concluded.
