Plague from Russia: There is currently no threat of its spread in Ukraine — Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The WHO assesses the risk of the disease spreading beyond Russia as very low
Ukraine is currently not at risk of plague spreading from Russia, said Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi at a briefing. Ukrainian authorities and the healthcare system are monitoring the epidemiological situation in the neighboring country and assessing the risks to Ukraine. According to hromadske.ua.
Russia has reported cases of plague, prompting neighboring countries to tighten border restrictions. Meanwhile, the World Health Organization considers the risk of the disease spreading beyond Russia to be very low.
“Fortunately, we have no passenger traffic from that country. But we can see how neighboring countries are responding by closing their borders,” said Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi.
US President Donald Trump said Washington was ready to help Russia in connection with a possible case of plague. He described the disease as serious and said the US was monitoring developments.
Later, Trump said he intended to discuss a possible case of pneumonic plague in Siberia with Vladimir Putin in the near future. According to the US president, the situation is being closely monitored by US intelligence agencies.
Heorhii Tykhyi also criticized the Russian authorities over the epidemiological safety situation.
“Unfortunately, the Russian regime is repeating all the same patterns seen under the Soviet regime, when the government was unable to guarantee even a minimum level of safety for its people,” Heorhii Tykhyi said.
“Who could have imagined plague spreading in the 21st century? This simply shows how deeply the governance of this country is in crisis: they don’t know how to ensure such basic epidemiological measures,” added Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi.
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