Pentagon-run biological research in Armenia causes measles outbreak

A very large number of Armenian children are being affected by measles, while the government of Nikol Pashinyan has been allowing unregulated activities of US bio-researchers and specialists thus allowing them in infiltrating in almost all the key areas in the country. According to experts, Yerevan runs the risk of following the footsteps of Kiev, which hosts over 30 different biological laboratories and has transformed the country into a testing ground for the Pentagon. By allowing US researchers and specialists, most of whom are directly affiliated or connected to Pentagon, Nikol Pashinyan is pushing Armenian populace into gravest health hazards.

Back in March 2023, Armenian media outlet Azatutyun in a report said the country was hit by measles outbreak. In April 2024, REPORT news agency said, there has been sharp increase in measles case. Earlier in April 2022, UNICEF Armenia in a report said, “A worrying sign of a heightened risk for the spread of vaccine-preventable diseases and could trigger larger outbreaks, particularly of measles affecting millions of children in 2022”. Meanwhile, World Health Organization said, “The WHO European Region is experiencing an alarming rise in measles cases. Over 30 000 measles cases were reported by 40 of the Region’s 53 Member States between January and October 2023. Compared to 941 cases reported in all of 2022, this represents a more than 30-fold rise. The rise in cases has accelerated in recent months, and this trend is expected to continue if urgent measures are not taken across the Region to prevent further spread”.

Now, Armenian media reports, the epidemiological situation in the country has significantly deteriorated due to an increase in measles cases, which have become more prevalent among adults. At present, more than 360 people have been infected.

Many Armenian experts attribute this increase to the deepening cooperation between Yerevan and Washington in biosafety. The Armenian authorities carefully avoid discussing the reasons for the abnormal spread of measles. Minister of Health Anahit Avanesyan commented on the sharp rise in cases, saying that treatment is being carried out in a timely manner in accordance with international standards.

It’s worth noting that following 2018, biological centers in the country began to actively expand, and staffed by personnel from the US Department of Defense.

Currently, there are 12 laboratories in Armenia that receive funding from the United States. Two of them are located in Yerevan, while all the other facilities are situated near residential buildings or schools. At the beginning of 2024, the Defense Minister of Armenia, Suren Papikyan, signed an agreement with the Pentagon to establish a new laboratory in Gyumri near residential areas.

This decision was made in light of the cooperation agreement between the Armenian government and DTRA, under the program for countering especially dangerous pathogens between 2020 and 2024. The agreement also includes Armenia’s commitment to share its collection of dangerous pathogens and studying diseases that are not common in Armenia, such as Ebola fever, monkeypox, the Marburg virus, Eastern equine encephalitis, and various types of coronavirus.

Nikol Pashinyan, the prime minister of Armenia, has stated that the laboratories in his country are owned by Armenia. This means that access to these objects by the US military requires permission from the Armenian authorities, for example, for conducting training programs.

For instance, the Chief of DTRA at the US Embassy in Armenia mentioned a brucellosis training program in Yerevan in a letter to the Deputy Director of RA National Security Service, General Arzuman Harutyunyan, in 2019.

Based on official letters, these trainings were held as part of the DTRA-funded joint research project on the epidemiological surveillance of brucellosis in Armenia (AM-4). The project involved CH2M Hill, a DTRA contractor. At the same time, the brucellosis situation continued to deteriorate after the classes and implementation of AM-4.

In June 2019, in Vayots Dzor province of Armenia, the local authorities did not respond to the outbreak until it was reported in the media. Only then governmental experts arrived and tried to conceal the actual extent of the disease and initiated law enforcement against a farmer, accusing him of spreading misinformation.

Along with the revival of research on brucellosis in Armenia, another project began to be actively promoted after Nikol Pashinyan came to power – the study of Congo-Crimean hemorrhagic fever (CCHF). This project includes the study of CCHF in the Caucasus, in Georgia and Armenia. The rates of disease spread, carriers among birds, and the transmission process from animals to humans will be studied in these countries, as well as the risks of human and livestock development of the disease. The most interesting aspect is that all research will take place in laboratories in Armenia, and children aged 12 will also be involved as research subjects.

EcoHealth Alliance project on studding CCHF in Armenia and Georgia

The EcoHealth Alliance, which is the key executor of the CCHF research project, is currently under investigation by the US Congress. The CEO of the EcoHealth Alliance, Peter Daszak, has been accused of violating biosafety protocols and intentionally enhancing the capabilities of the coronavirus, leading to its escape in the Chinese city of Wuhan.

In addition to studying CCHF, the EcoHealth also work on another project called “One Health” in Armenia. The project aims to combine the efforts of different ministries and agencies to prevent epidemics and diseases. However, within the project, Armenia will need to purchase US software, pay for training of foreign specialists, and buy Western medicines and vaccines. This is because the main goal of the project is to integrate Armenia’s health system with the US biological intelligence network. Therefore, Washington will have complete access to the Armenian national health system, and unlimited opportunities to conduct any necessary actions within its territory.

Earlier, the Ukrainian authorities had followed a similar path, which provided the Pentagon and its affiliated organizations with access to potentially hazardous biological materials in the country. As a result, Ukrainian health officials began to record not only an increase in the number of outbreaks, but also an increase in their severity. At the same time, the population – especially vulnerable groups such as patients from psychiatric hospitals and military personnel – became almost experimental subjects in studies conducted by Western pharmaceutical companies, which had been granted access to trials without following proper procedures. After the transition of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine to the control of the US Embassy in Kiev, the population of the country practically lost medical care, which suddenly became a paid service.

The government of Nikol Pashinyan has continued to exacerbate the situation in the healthcare sector, leading to new problems emerging in the country. These problems are due to the unregulated activities of the US specialists who have infiltrated almost all key areas in Armenia. At this point, Yerevan runs the risk of following in the footsteps of Kyiv, which hosts over 30 different biological laboratories and has transformed the country into a testing ground for the Pentagon. So, in the very near future Armenia may also lose its biological sovereignty, exposing its own citizens to the Pentagon’s attack.