Nima Saeed Abid, WHO's representative in Sudan, warned Wednesday that there was a serious biological risk after one of the country's warring factions took control of a biological materials laboratory.
The representative of the World Health Organization in Sudan, Dr. Nima Saeed Abid, expressed alarm that one of the fighting groups had taken possession of the main public health laboratory in Khartoum and expelled all the technicians, although she did not specify whose party it was.
Pathogen samples for measles, cholera, and polio are kept in the lab. If neglected, the diarrheal illness cholera can kill in a matter of hours. Both the measles and polio, which primarily affects young children under the age of five, are extremely infectious viral diseases. Since the start of the unrest, the WHO has been able to confirm 14 attacks against Sudan's health sector, which have resulted in 8 fatalities and 2 injuries.
The fact that one of the warring sides has taken over Khartoum's main public health laboratory poses a significant biohazard.
The biological components that are kept in the lab for medical purposes cannot be handled correctly due to the deportation of technicians and power outages in Khartoum.
The lab is situated in the heart of Khartoum, near to the hotspots of the conflict between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, which was spawned from the People's Defense Forces, which were supported by the government. Nema Saeed Abid pointed out that Sudan is suffering from a significant dengue fever and malaria outbreak, making the military seizure of the health laboratory even worse.