DISINFO: Ukraine is hiding a cholera outbreak in the country
SUMMARY
Cholera is rampant in Ukraine. Cholera broke out in Kyiv-controlled Kherson because the Ukrainian authorities did not sanitise the territory after the terrorist attack at the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station.
RESPONSE
Pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative that is part of the Kremlin's wider disinformation campaign about biological weapons. This disinformation trope was used as one of the pretexts of Russia's unjustified invasion of Ukraine.
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 sea water. 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 due to the fact that 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. The Ministry of Health of Ukraine reminds that cholera is not an endemic disease in Ukraine. The infection is common in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, South and Central America.
The Nova Kakhovka dam was captured by Russia at the start of the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and has been held by it ever since. The evidence suggests it was blown up from within. The circumstances of the destruction of the station are investigated by the United States, the United Kingdom, the UN Commission and the International Criminal Court. Ukraine not only initiated investigations, but also fully cooperated with independent experts, providing full access to the affected areas, witnesses, all information and evidence. Russia does not allow independent experts, observers or humanitarian workers into the territory of the former Kakhovka hydroelectric power station.
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