SOCHI, June 22. /TASS/. Belarusian health services are concerned about the possible spread of cholera following the Dnieper River’s flooding caused by the collapse of the dam at the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant (HPP), Alexander Tarasenko, Belarusian Deputy Health Minister and Chief State Sanitary Doctor, told TASS.

"We are watching the situation with caution. Cases [of cholera] have already been recorded in Ukraine; the thing to note is that it is a southern region. The recent developments may pose a real threat of cholera spreading," Tarasenko said on the sidelines of a conference dubbed "Global Threats to Biological Security. Problems and Solutions," which is taking place in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi.

According to him, Belarusian health services are ready to contain the infection in case it enters their country.

On the morning of June 6, the Ukrainian armed forces delivered a strike on the Kakhovka hydro station, destroying the hydraulic sluice valves and causing an uncontrolled discharge of water. The water level reached 12 meters in Novaya Kakhovka at one point but is now receding. A total of 35 communities were affected by the flood. According to the latest data, 41 people have been killed and 121 have been hospitalized. The Odessa administration reported that the cholera bacterium, which causes acute intestinal diseases, had been found in local waters. The authorities in Russia’s Kherson Region said on June 19 that no cases of cholera or other dangerous infectious diseases had been recorded so far.