Health experts have warned of the threat of secondary effects of the earthquake in Turkey and Syria. In danger, first of all, the regions that have fallen into the epicenter of the tragedy, but infections can spread throughout the world.

“After large-scale natural disasters, there is always an increase in infections. This is primarily due to the lack of clean water, sewerage, heating and regular medical care. An additional risk factor in these conditions is the massive displacement of the population, ”said Mikhail Bolkov, senior researcher at the Institute of Immunology and Physiology of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, to Izvestiya.

Given the degree of destruction of infrastructure in the affected areas, southeast Turkey could become another epicenter for the spread of cholera, experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) said. In a situation where outbreaks of this disease have already been recorded in 18 countries, WHO considers the risk of further spread of cholera in the world as “very high”.

Natural disasters lead to the destruction of treatment facilities, so cases of infections associated with the use of dirty water, such as hepatitis A and E, are becoming more frequent, said Elena Malinnikova, head of the Department of Virology at the RMANPE of the Russian Ministry of Health.

“Another serious infection that does not appear immediately, but a little later, is anthrax. The destruction of animal burial grounds can lead to the release of its spores, which remain in the ground for many decades, ”she warned.

Read more in the exclusive Izvestia article:

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p class=”MsoNoSpacing”>Outbreak again: foci of dangerous infections appear in the earthquake zone in Turkey