MOSCOW, June 19. /TASS/. The high risk of incidents at US biolabs is one of the reasons for their transfer to third countries, including Ukraine, Chief of Russia’s Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection Troops Lieutenant-General Igor Kirillov said on Monday.
"An unacceptably high risk of incidents at American biolabs is one of the reasons for their withdrawal from the national jurisdiction and transfer to the territory of third countries, including Ukraine and other states. This can explain the deterioration of the epidemiological situation at the places of their accommodation, the emergence of diseases and their agents untypical for these regions," the general said, commenting on the materials of the probe by the independent company Intercept into the incidents at highly protected US labs.
Pursuant to the investigation, 28 lab incidents related to the spread of microorganism aerosol, biomaterial spills and lab animal bites were recorded in 2015-2020 alone in the laboratory of the University of North Carolina engaged in genetic engineering studies, Kirillov said.
Specifically, in October and November 2015, at least five lab staffers were impacted by the aerosol of the modified coronavirus causing the severe acute respiratory syndrome as a result of two incidents. In April 2020, a lab staffer was placed under a two-week quarantine as a result of a bite by a laboratory animal infected with the COVID-19 chimeric strain agent, he said.
The materials of the probe say that the work of the laboratory at the University of North Carolina created a risk of infecting the staff and further spreading the genetically modified agents of viral fevers, the severe acute respiratory syndrome, the highly pathogenic avian influenza and some other infections, the Russian general said.