United States Works to Secure Uzbek Biological Facilities

The United States has begun work to better secure Soviet-era biological weapons facilities in Uzbekistan, BBC News reported Friday (see GSN, Oct. 6).

During the Cold War-era, the largest Soviet anthrax test site was located on Vozrozhdeniya Island in the Aral Sea between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. The Soviet Union also established in Central Asia a network of biological research facilities called the Anti-Plague System, BBC News reported. In addition, there are about 4,000 biological specialists in Uzbekistan.

“We do know that there are certain institutes in Uzbekistan that maintain dangerous pathogens,” said U.S. State Department microbiologist Geoffrey Stewart. “The Center for Zoonotic Diseases, the former anti-plague institutes — those are all examples. Any place that has veterinary diseases or human diseases is a potential source of pathogenic organisms,” he said (BBC News, Dec. 5).

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