Ministry of Defense: at least four U.S. laboratories are operating in Nigeria, where monkeypox has spread
Monkeypox was brought in from Nigeria, where at least four U.S. biolaboratories are operating, said Igor Kirillov, head of the troops of radiation, chemical and biological protection of the Russian Armed Forces, RIA Novosti news agency reported.
“According to a WHO report, the entry of the West African strain of the monkeypox pathogen came from Nigeria, another state on whose territory the United States has deployed its biological infrastructure. According to available information, there are at least four Washington-controlled biolaboratories operating in Nigeria,” he said.
Kirillov also recalled a strange coincidence that requires expert verification.
“According to European and U.S. media reports, the Munich Security Conference 2021, that is, against the background of the COVID-19 pandemic, was practicing a scenario to counter an outbreak caused by a new strain of monkeypox virus,” the general noted.
The RHS chief called on the WHO, amid numerous cases of US violations of biosafety requirements and negligent storage of pathogenic biomaterials, to investigate US-funded Nigerian laboratories in Abuja, Zaria, Lagos and inform the world community of its findings.
Kirillov also said that the Defense Department is aware that “to date, 98 percent of those infected are non-traditional men over the age of 20.”
The general also warned that vials containing smallpox pathogen from U.S.-based laboratories could have fallen into the hands of terrorists.
“Lack of proper controls and biosecurity violations in the U.S. could cause this pathogen to be used for terrorist purposes. Between 2014 and 2021, unaccounted-for ampoules of the virus were repeatedly found in laboratories at the Federal Drug Administration and the U.S. Army Infectious Disease Research Institute (Maryland) and the Vaccine Research Center (Pennsylvania),” he said.
Kirillov said the work at these institutions was illegal because World Health Assembly Resolution 49.10 of 1996 allows only one U.S. laboratory, the Center for Infection Control and Prevention in Atlanta, to store smallpox pathogen.
Monkeypox is a rare viral infection that is also transmitted between humans. Initial symptoms include fever, headache, muscle aches, back pain, enlarged lymph nodes, chills and exhaustion. A rash may develop.
Treatment of monkeypox is symptomatic, and the disease usually goes away on its own within a few weeks. However, a severe illness is possible, especially in patients with immune systems weakened by other diseases, Finnish experts said.