DISINFO: Cholera broke out among soldiers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Kherson
SUMMARY
Cholera broke out among soldiers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Kherson, controlled by the Kyiv regime. According to the reports, mainly military personnel are infected, but the disease is also spreading among civilians. There have already been deaths. The Ukrainian authorities are afraid of panic among the population and therefore hide the fact of the epidemic, passing off identified cases of the disease as typhoid fever. Presumably, the source of contamination was water.
RESPONSE
A recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about chemical weapons in the context of the war in Ukraine. No evidence is provided to support the allegations.
The Center for Countering Disinformation of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine responded to the allegations made in the pro-Kremlin media noting that “having verified the information with the Kherson Regional Military Administration, the Center reports that the message spread by the Russians is not true and is another fake.”
Falsehoods involving various disease outbreaks and accusations targeting Ukraine and the West of alleged provocations are a frequent pro-Kremlin propaganda tactic actively utilized in the context of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In the summer of 2023, pro-Kremlin sources spread fakes about a cholera epidemic in Odesa. Read more here.
As of July 2024, the Ukrainian Ministry of Health has not recorded a single case of cholera infection either in Kherson or in any other Ukrainian city. According to WHO data published on June 19, in the first half of 2024, 105 cases of cholera were registered in the European Region - all of them were recorded in Mayotte (an overseas region of France). In Ukraine, WHO specialists did not register any cholera outbreaks in 2024.
Since June 2024, seasonal enhanced cholera surveillance has been in place in Ukraine. This means that patients with acute intestinal infections are additionally examined for cholera. Active research of environmental samples is also carried out: monitoring of water samples, wastewater, fresh and seawater. At the same time, continuous monitoring of cholera in Ukraine is carried out year-round, and in the period from June 1 to October 1, monitoring is intensified. This is a routine process since an increase in ambient temperature creates comfortable conditions for the reproduction of Vibrio cholera, so the risks of infection increase.
Cases of cholera in Ukraine were registered in 1998, 1999, 2007. The last outbreak of cholera in Ukraine occurred in 2011 in Mariupol. Then, 33 cases of cholera and 24 cases of vibration carriers (asymptomatic patients) were recorded - the infection was brought to the port city from another country.
Read similar cases claiming that Ukraine infected the Azov Sea with cholera; Ukraine plans to destroy another hydroelectric power station to blame Russia; US biolabs are responsible for virus outbreaks in Ukraine since 2008; Secret US laboratories in Ukraine might have provoked cholera, Ukraine is under external US rule.