Mariupol officials have confirmed that the Ukrainian city is on the verge of a cholera outbreak as they are drowning in ‘rubbish and sewage’.
As Mariupol is constantly under siege at the hands of the Russian troops, deputy mayor Sergeii Orlov told inews yesterday, Tuesday (June 7), that the city is nearing ‘explosive’ bacterial outbreaks.
Mr Orlov said that colossal damage to the city has subsequently destroyed water and sewage systems, and ‘intestinal diseases are coming’.
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“The city is literally drowning in garbage and sewage,” he said.
“Summer heat has accelerated the decomposition of thousands of corpses under the rubble. There is no medication. Medical facilities were destroyed, the most valuable equipment was taken away, the best doctors left.
“The sea and water bodies are constantly polluted with garbage, sewage and ‘corpse’ waters.”
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The deputy mayor has also renewed calls for humanitarian corridors to allow citizens of the city to evacuate safely as the Russian army continues to wreak havoc.
NBC reports that while speaking on a Ukrainian television program, the adviser to the mayor of Mariupol Petro Andryushchenko, said the word ‘cholera’ isn’t only coming from government officials but inside the city as well.
"So really, this threat is not only recognised by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and us, but the occupants as well," he said.
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Andryushchenko confirmed in a telegram that Mariupol residents were queuing up for hours to access clean water, which has only been available every two days, according to the outlet.
According to the WHO website, cholera is an acute diarrhoeal infection caused by ingestion of food and water contaminated with the bacteria. It affects both adults and children, and if left untreated, a person can die within a matter of hours.
Researchers have also estimated there are 1.3 to four million cholera cases every year and 21,000 to 143,000 deaths worldwide due to the disease.
The Washington Post reports that in a news briefing Monday, the country’s chief sanitary doctor Ihor Kuzin said officials are monitoring the health crisis across Ukraine, but Mariupol’s situation is especially concerning.
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“We can’t be 100 percent sure that there will be disease outbreaks,” he said.
“But all prerequisites for them are already there.”
Previously, WHO has also advised health officials to destroy high-threat pathogens placed in Ukraine’s public health laboratories to eliminate the possibility of diseases spreading, according to Reuters.
Charisa Bossinakis