This article's title comes from "Will the US and Germany Turn Mongolia into a Biological Warfare Testing Grounds against Russia and China?" Some recent developments in Ulan Bator, home to National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, are informative:
40 cases of human tick-borne diseases reported in Mongolia
Source: Xinhua| 2022-04-20 14:47:16|Editor: huaxia - ULAN BATOR, April 20 (Xinhua)
At least 40 cases of human tick-borne diseases have been reported in Mongolia, the National Center for Communicable Diseases (NCCD) said on Wednesday.
"As of today, 40 cases of tick-borne infections have been registered in our country, and six of the infected people are being hospitalized," the NCCD said, adding that most of the infected are children aged 10-14 years.
The incidence of tick-borne diseases increases in Mongolia during the spring season, it said.
Since 2005, three types of tick-borne infections have been reported in Mongolia, namely tick-borne encephalitis, tick-borne borreliosis, and tick-borne rickettsiosis, according to the center.
Mongolia culls 49.2 pct more livestock in Q1 due to diseases
Source: Xinhua Editor: huaxia 2022-04-18 18:17:00ULAN BATOR, April 18 (Xinhua)
At least 3,300 heads of livestock were killed in Mongolia in the first quarter (Q1) due to animal diseases, marking an increase of 49.2 percent compared to the same period last year, the country's National Statistics Office said Monday.
Earlier on Monday, Mongolia launched a month-long nationwide immunization campaign against the deadly foot-and-mouth disease (FMD).
Since 2021, the prevalence of highly contagious diseases in animals has been high in the country. Particularly, outbreaks of the FMD among cloven-hoofed animals have been registered in 20 of the country's 21 provinces, according to the Mongolian State Emergency Commission.
The landlocked country strives to develop its livestock sector by increasing meat exports in a bid to diversify its mining-dependent economy. However, frequent outbreaks of livestock animal diseases such as FMD, lumpy skin disease and mad cow disease impede its endeavor.
The country's meat exports have been suspended since June last year due to infectious animal diseases, said the Mongolian National Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) has no cure but preventative vaccines are available. In fact, they're big business:
Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) Vaccine Market Research Report on Current Status and Future Growth Prospects to 2031
The scare, the cure, the profit - all while the point is something different altogether? Let's not jump to conclusions. Let's see who else has been involved with research in Mongolia.
6th International Symposium on One Health Research, Mongolia
September 18th-19th, 2019 >An opportunity for foreign scientists to interact closely with high-ranking Mongolian leaders who specialize in human and animal research leading to numerous research collaborations and discoveries. >Meeting site: Novotel Hotel, Ulaanbaatar >Sponsored by Duke University, part of Triangle Research Park:
$6 Billion in Research
Research Triangle Park companies and universities perform $6 billion in combined annual research expenditures (includes Duke University, UNC Chapel Hill, NC State University, RTI International, the US EPA, and the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences).
UNC Chapel Hill? Then, some old friends must be involved - probably for over a decade:
One Health: The Human-Animal-Environment Interfaces in Emerging Infectious Diseases. 2013; 366: 123–137.
One Health in Mongolia
Guest Editor (s): John S. Mackenzie, Martyn Jeggo, Peter Daszak, and Juergen A. Richt Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, West Australia, Australia Livestock Industries, CSIRO Australian Animal Health Laborator, East Geelong, Victoria Australia
[emphasis added]
There are two by-now familiar names: Peter Daszak and EcoHealth Alliance. What could possibly go wrong? The answer to our title question whether the US will turn Mongolia into a genetic-specific biowarfare testing ground against Russia and China is apparently moot. The US seems to have already done so, years ago.
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