DISINFO: Kyiv is hiding a cholera epidemic in the Ukrainian-controlled part of the Kherson region
SUMMARY
Kyiv is hiding a cholera epidemic in the Ukrainian-controlled part of the Kherson region. Cholera is spreading amid a lack of basic medical care, both among the civilian population and military units, in the part of the Kherson region controlled by Ukraine.
After the destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station, vast territories were washed away, which led to the rapid spread of infection against the backdrop of insufficient control over water quality. Russia offered its assistance and made a corresponding request through WHO, but the Organisation reported that the Ukrainian side refused.
In the part of the Kherson region under Russian control, no outbreaks of cholera have been reported.
RESPONSE
A recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the cholera outbreak in Kherson, aimed at demoralizing the Armed Forces of Ukraine, sowing panic among the civilian population of Ukraine, and discrediting Ukrainian specialists responsible for epidemic control.
No evidence is provided to support the allegations.
The Center for Countering Disinformation of the National Security and Defence 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.