Russian experts will take part in a World Health Organization-led panel to investigate Haiti’s cholera epidemic, Russia’s public health chief said on Thursday.

“We have offered to take part in this expert group that will be working on the orders of [UN Secretary General] Ban Ki-moon,” Gennady Onishchenko told RIA Novosti.

Ban announced the creation of the panel in December. He said it “will be completely independent and have full access to all UN premises and personnel.”

More than 3,300 Haitians have died from the water-borne disease in Haiti since the outbreak started in October.

Health officials say more than 150,000 people have been infected with the disease, with at least 83,000 admitted to hospital. another 139 people have been treated for symptoms of cholera in the neighboring Dominican Republic.

In November, protesters attacked a UN patrol accusing its Nepalese peacekeepers of bringing cholera to the island.

Dozens of voodoo priests have been lynched by angry mobs in recent weeks amid fears that they may be spreading the disease.

MOSCOW, January 6 (RIA Novosti)