MOSCOW, August 3 - RIA Novosti, Larisa Zhukova. An outbreak of anthrax hit the Yamalo-Nenets District for the first time in 75 years. The other day it became known about the death of a 12-year-old child. The ulcer was found in 20 people. Another 70 remain hospitalized with suspected infection, more than half of them are children. RIA Novosti found out why the bacillus is dangerous, how to protect yourself from the disease and what the authorities and local residents think about it.

Outbreak reasons

Quarantine in the Yamal District of the Okrug was introduced on July 25. Then it became known about the mass death of animals: more than 2 thousand deer died from anthrax. According to local residents, for about a week the media and the authorities did not report the incident: "We learned all the information primarily from social networks from relatives of doctors and rescuers of the Ministry of Emergency Situations," said a resident of Salekhard Galina (name has been changed).

"The scale of the epidemic was also influenced by the fact that at first it was believed that the hot weather was to blame and the deer were dying from heatstroke. We lost a week or even a little more on this,"

Narrated by local resident Ivan (name has been changed).

Anthrax was found in 20 Nenets. The figures were cited by Irina Shestakova, chief freelance specialist of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation for infectious diseases.

Anthrax struck Yamal for the first time in 75 years: one dead, 20 got sickIn total, more than 2.3 thousand animals died due to the outbreak of the disease. To eliminate the consequences of the outbreak of anthrax, military specialists and aviation of the Russian Ministry of Defense were sent to the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug.

According to her, all the infected are nomadic reindeer herders who were in the focus of an outbreak in the tundra. Most of them have a cutaneous form of the disease.

This is not complete data on the number of cases, District Governor Dmitry Kobylkin told RIA Novosti. According to him, it takes up to thirty days to establish an accurate diagnosis: today is only the eighth day.

In 2007, the mandatory vaccination against infection was canceled: scientists did not find anthrax spores in the soil, the governor said. The situation turned out to be extraordinary: the last time an epidemic was in 1941. I had to ask for help from the military: “It was hard on our own to quickly dispose of the fallen deer before they decomposed. And they were scattered over a long distance,” Dmitry Kobylkin said.

Why is the disease dangerous?

"Anthrax is quite contagious and causes a large number of deaths," said Vladislav Zhemchugov, MD, a specialist in especially dangerous infections. "The pathogen spores have been stored in the soil for centuries. An infection that entered the ground along with a dead animal back in the time of Alexander the Great remains active. " According to the doctor, outbreaks of the disease occur after the activation of foci (washing out of spores to the surface) during floods, excavations or melting of ice, as in Yamal.

The disease occurs in different forms: cutaneous, intestinal and pulmonary. The pulmonary form, for example, was in the United States when envelopes with spores were sent out - this is the most severe variant of the infection. Almost one hundred percent death without urgent medical intervention: people lose consciousness and die within a few hours after infection.

"The cutaneous form is easier to cure, because the lymph nodes stand in the way of bacteria: they delay the development of the disease. A sign of infection are carbuncles - abscesses with a black top. Intestinal anthrax causes fever, pain in the intestines and diarrhea. The period from infection to death can make up a few hours or days, "Vladislav Zhemchugov clarified.

Most often, infection occurs when eating or cutting meat from a sick animal. This causes real concern among the Nenets, since the main source of meat for many is venison: “Usually we buy one or two carcasses per season,” said local resident Ivan (name has been changed). - "Now we will not only be unable to buy meat, but we will be afraid to buy fish."

Against vaccinations

Anyone can get vaccinated against anthrax: ninety thousand doses of the vaccine have been delivered to the region. However, the nomadic reindeer herders refuse to consider anthrax a real threat.

According to local media reports, the child who died of anthrax not only ate infected deer meat, but also drank its blood. "This is a traditional food of the northern peoples who live in the tundra and lack food variety. Fresh blood gives them energy," said Andrey Podluzhnov, a veterinarian and breeder of red deer.

According to him, nomads meet with civilization twice a year, when they come to hand over deer for meat, and do not trust "people from the mainland." That is why many reindeer herders hide their livestock from counting, vaccination and slaughter. Despite the fact that, according to the press service of the governor of the Yamal-Nenets Okrug, 35 thousand deer were vaccinated, nomads continue to hide the animals as much as possible and take them away from meeting with rescuers and the military:

"For the peoples of the north, the reindeer is practically a totem animal. The whole life of a reindeer herder is centered around him. For a nomad, losing a reindeer means losing everything. This is their bread, home, transport. And it is extremely difficult to restore the population. For the local population it will be a humanitarian disaster, "

Andrei Podluzhnov emphasized.

No threat to other regions

The causative agent of anthrax can penetrate through water and dust raised from the soil surface from the region of the focus of infection. Despite this, experts note that the likelihood of such infection is extremely small. In the quarantine zone, doctors recommend drinking bottled water or from underground sources. The Yamal authorities also warned local residents that picking berries and mushrooms in the forest is now extremely dangerous.

As for other regions of Russia, birds could become the most likely vector of infection. But those birds that are now nesting in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug will fly for wintering in Southeast Asia, India and Australia, Doctor of Biological Sciences, professor at Moscow State University, told RIA Novosti. Lomonosova Irina Boehme. According to her, the only precedent when birds hypothetically became carriers of the virus was during the avian flu epidemic, but this fact was not completely proved.

According to Rospotrebnadzor, the focus of anthrax infection in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug is localized. A 12-year-old teenager died. 90 people were hospitalized, vaccination of people and animals continues in settlements. To combat the consequences of the epidemic, additional army units have been deployed to the region, which are engaged in the destruction of dead livestock and disinfection of the area. The TFR is conducting a pre-investigation check. "Lenta.ru" understood the causes and consequences of the Siberian peptic ulcer.

Biological attack

On Tuesday, August 2, the Ministry of Defense announced the build-up of an army grouping, eliminating the center of anthrax in Yamal. During the day, the soldiers destroyed the remains of more than fifty deer, reports.

"The grouping of the Central Military District, which includes more than 200 servicemen, 19 units of special equipment, mobile laboratories, 4 Mi-8 helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles, will be strengthened by another 50 specialists and 13 units of equipment from the units of radiation, chemical and biological protection," noted in the department.

Army specialists are airlifted by military transport aircraft from Yekaterinburg to Salekhard.

Colonel Yaroslav Roshchupkin, assistant commander of the Central Military District, explained that the fallen cattle are burned. At 140 degrees, anthrax spores die. “They use old car tires, fire mixtures and oil products,” he said. “Upon completion, the soil is treated with a disinfectant solution.”

Monitoring of the area where the focus of the disease is localized is carried out using unmanned aerial vehicles.

In parallel with the military operation, power structures are conducting a pre-investigation check. Employees of the Investigative Committee of Russia are investigating whether the outbreak of a dangerous disease was the result of a violation of veterinary rules.

The suspects in the TFR have not yet been reported, but most of all the committee is interested in the activities of state bodies, whose powers include the timely detection of the disease and suppression of its spread. And also by how quickly the evacuation of people from the epizootic focus began. Investigators collect and summarize all known circumstances.

“It was preliminarily established that in the tundra zone of the Yamal region, since June 2016, there has been a massive death of deer of a private livestock and a municipal reindeer herding enterprise,” say the ICR department for the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. “To date, more than 2,000 heads have died.”

In the "dirty" zone affected by the disease, specialists take samples of soil, water, air, vegetation and insects for laboratory research. Evacuation and vaccination of people from the surrounding areas continues. The general vaccination of animals is carried out.

In the hearth

There is no threat of anthrax spreading to other regions. Anna Popova, the head of Rospotrebnadzor, reported this to Lente.ru.

“The outbreak is localized. For people, there is no threat of further spread of the disease, but all epidemiological measures continue until all animals are vaccinated and until we are convinced of the complete safety of people in this area, ”she stressed.

Popova also said that 10 people were discharged from the infectious diseases hospital on Tuesday August 2, who underwent antibiotic prophylaxis.

In total, ninety people were taken to the Salekhard district hospital with suspected anthrax. More than half of them (54) are children.

"Of those who were not hospitalized, but were under medical supervision, such 269 people, 151 people have successfully completed antibiotic prophylaxis," the head of the supervisory department summed up.

In total, as of August 2, out of 90 people admitted to the hospital, the diagnosis was confirmed in 20 patients, including eight children. During the day, there were no new appeals with suspected anthrax, according to the Yamal administration.

Rospotrebnadzor assures that the leak of biomaterial from the infectious diseases department of the hospital in Salekhard, where patients with suspected anthrax and with a confirmed diagnosis are kept, is excluded. To verify this, by order of the department, special studies were carried out.

On the needle

The main epidemiologist of Yamal, Lyudmila Volova, reported on the progress of the vaccination campaign on Tuesday, August 2. “We began to do this from a" clean zone "towards the source of infection in order to prevent the spread of infection. All people who were in the outbreak receive preventive treatment, and three days after its completion they will be vaccinated, ”she explained.

The anthrax vaccine is given twice three weeks apart and then repeated annually. Currently, 90 thousand vaccines have been delivered to the region for residents of the Yamal, Priuralsky, Tazovsky, Nadym districts of the district.

In total, half a million people live in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. According to the chief infectious disease specialist of the Russian Ministry of Health Irina Shestakova, there is no need to vaccinate everyone.

“It's one thing when you really are in an epidemiologically problem area. Or if you expect to travel to such a zone in the near future, says Shestakova. “If these are citizens who are outside this territory and do not contact by the nature of their work and life with animals or materials received from them, then I think that it is quite possible not to be vaccinated.”

There are victims

On August 1, it was reported that a 12-year-old teenager had died in the Salekhard hospital with a confirmed diagnosis of anthrax. The YNAO administration is confident that the cause of death was the intestinal form of the disease. It develops after eating the meat of an infected animal.

Governor Dmitry Kobylkin ordered every minute to restore the treatment of the deceased child and provide his parents with all the necessary assistance.

The media spread information that the grandmother of this boy, with whom they ate together, died of anthrax, but the district government did not confirm this.

“An elderly woman was also in the center of infection. She passed away a week ago, but had nothing to do with the deceased boy. Samples were taken from her, but the anthrax has not yet been confirmed, "Nadezhda Noskova, head of the press service of the governor of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, told Komsomolskaya Pravda.

Tenacious bacillus

Spores of the bacterium bacillus anthracis, the causative agent of the disease, are particularly persistent and can last up to 200 years. The source of infection is most often cattle. The corpse of an animal killed by anthrax contaminates the soil. The lichen grown on such a site is dangerous for other animals. The disease is not transmitted from person to person.

The last outbreak of a deadly infection, according to experts, was facilitated by an unusually warm summer for the region. The air temperature in Yamal rose to 35 degrees. The permafrost thawed, and anthrax spores fell from the ground into the water.

Photo: Konstantin Chalabov / RIA Novosti

People most often become infected through direct contact with an infected animal: when cutting carcasses, through leather products and other animal products. But the disease can be transmitted through water and air.

Anthrax has been known under various names since antiquity. At the end of the 18th century, Russian physician Stepan Andreevsky assigned its modern name to it. The human vaccine was created in 1940 by Nikolai Ginsburg and Alexander Tamarin of the Red Army's Sanitary and Technical Institute. The military needed medicine because the Japanese in Manchuria tried to use anthrax spores as a bacteriological weapon.

In terms of the number of victims, the most severe outbreak of infection is considered in the spring of 1979 in Sverdlovsk (now Yekaterinburg). Then out of 96 cases, 64 people died.

Until recently, the last victim of anthrax was considered a resident of the village of Druzhba in the Tselinny District of the Altai Territory. He died in August 2012. On average, no more than 11 cases of human infection with this infection are registered in the country per year.

The disease can occur in the pulmonary, cutaneous and intestinal forms. The incubation period is from several hours to 2-3 days. The cutaneous form is the most common. It is accompanied by inflammation of the lymph nodes and the formation of a carbuncle (acute purulent-necrotic inflammation with tissue necrosis). The pulmonary form is similar in symptoms to the common cold and pneumonia following it. Unlike skin, even with high-quality and timely treatment, death from it occurs in 50 percent of cases.

The most rare is the intestinal form - it was with it that the boy who died in Salekhard fell ill. It is difficult to detect at an early stage - the symptoms are similar to food poisoning.

A particular danger is the so-called generalized form of infection, in which the entire body suffers. Mortality in such cases, especially without proper treatment, reaches 90-95 percent.

What's next?

According to the head of the Department of Infectious Diseases of the First Moscow State Medical University named after Sechenov, Professor Elena Volchkova, anthrax cannot be completely eradicated, since it is a natural focal disease, writes Medportal.ru. But the infection goes beyond the focus very rarely. As for artificial reservoirs, all cattle cemeteries are under the protection of authorized government agencies. And here everything depends on the responsibility of officials.

There are, however, irresponsible cattle owners who, in the event of an animal's illness, quietly try to slaughter and sell it. So the human factor also plays a big role.

Professor of the Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU) and head of the laboratory of virological research at the FBUZ Center for Hygiene and Epidemiology in the Primorsky Territory, Mikhail Shchelkanov, recalls that permafrost creates ideal conditions for the preservation of anthrax. Spores are preserved for a long time in a natural refrigerator.

The outbreak of infection in Yamal was quickly localized due to the sparse population and inaccessibility of the area, which facilitated the creation of a natural quarantine. In the future, more active development and settlement of the region, the development of its infrastructure, new risks may arise. So far, the problem can only be stopped, but not solved.

ALL PHOTOS

The press service of the governor Dmitry Kobylkin clarified with reference to the data of the Minister of Health of the Russian Federation Veronika Skvortsova, who arrived in the region, that no one is in a serious condition, 19 people, including 10 children, have a moderate condition, Interfax reports.

"The state of health of all 90 people undergoing treatment in Salekhard is stable, with good dynamics, most of the tundra residents have not confirmed the dangerous diagnosis," the website of the head of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, which is currently located in the Yamal region, where the outbreak was identified infections and quarantined.

A day earlier, local authorities reported that the anthrax agent was found in 20 reindeer herders and their family members, including eight children hospitalized in the Salekhard district hospital from the Yamal region. Of the 90 people in this hospital, 53 are children. Previously, one infected boy has died.

Skvortsova flew to Yamal on August 2 and on the same day held a meeting in Salekhard on organizing medical assistance and anti-epidemic measures in connection with the outbreak of anthrax in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. On August 3, the minister plans to personally meet with the residents of the Yamal region and check the arrangement of security zones for the population and the specialists involved - doctors, veterinarians, pilots, and the military.

A reindeer herder walked for 4 days across the tundra to report the death of animals

Meanwhile, the deputy head of Rosselkhoznadzor, Nikolai Vlasov, expressed the opinion that one of the reasons for the outbreak of anthrax in the YaNAO was late diagnosis.

“Local veterinarians learned about the epidemiology of anthrax about five weeks after the disease began,” TASS quotes him. “The reindeer herders have no means of communication, and one of them walked for four days across the tundra on foot to report the death of animals.”

Quarantine due to anthrax in the Yamal region of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug was introduced on July 25. More than 2.3 thousand deer died there from infection. According to local authorities, the cause of the outbreak of infection was an unusually warm summer for the Far North: for a month, the Yamal was abnormally hot, up to 35 degrees, due to which anthrax spores thawed. And locals became infected after eating unprocessed meat from infected deer.

Currently, the number of deer from the quarantine zone has been vaccinated, mortality in the area of \u200b\u200bthe outbreak has stopped, the authorities of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug reassure. In the elimination of the dead animals in the outbreak, the forces of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, consisting of more than 200 people, are equipped with special equipment, their own laboratory, and special means for eliminating infection and disinfecting the territory.

The previous outbreak of anthrax in Yamal was recorded in 1941.

Image copyright RIA Novosti Image caption Anthrax killed 2.3 thousand deer in the region

After the first anthrax outbreak in the last 75 years, the authorities of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug will have to carry out a lot of work to identify old cattle burial grounds and restrict access to them, says Viktor Maleev, deputy director for scientific work of the Central Research Institute of Epidemiology of Rospotrebnadzor.

Anthrax caused the death of the child, which on Monday. The number of confirmed cases in humans has already reached 20, Irina Shestakova, chief freelance specialist of the Ministry of Health for infectious diseases, said on Tuesday.

According to Shestakova, eight out of 20 cases are children. In total, 90 people were hospitalized in the focus of infection in the Yamal region, but most of them have not confirmed the diagnosis.

The slightest ailments, including a runny nose and skin irritation, were the reason for hospitalization.

"Several patients, who aroused our concern a few days ago, today, according to the results of the morning round, showed a stable condition with a very clear positive dynamics," Shestakova said.

As a rule, cases of the disease belong to the families of reindeer herders. Anthrax killed 2.3 thousand deer in the region.

According to local authorities, the deer stumbled upon the remains of an animal killed by anthrax in search of food and then infected each other.

The YNAO authorities have already begun to vaccinate both animals and families of reindeer herders. Residents from the "clean zone" living near the outbreak will be the first to receive the vaccine.

Meanwhile, all people who were directly in the outbreak receive antibacterial drugs as part of the prophylaxis, and three days after that they will be vaccinated.

BBC Russian Service talked to Victorohm Maleevth about how dangerous the outbreak of the disease in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District is and what local authorities need to do now to avoid such incidents in the future.

Animal burial ground with security

BBC: What are the reasons for the outbreak of anthrax in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug and can we say that this is some kind of extraordinary case?

Victor Maleev:To say that this is something outstanding, of course, is impossible, because there were more outbreaks. The main reason is that the cattle burial grounds, which were previously under permafrost, apparently thawed out, and the bacteria became active. It is usually in a spore form, but here it was in a vegetative form.

One of the reasons is that we may not know the location of all the burial grounds, and this bacteria can be stored for hundreds of years.

When there was an outbreak of the disease many years ago, there was also a very high temperature. This is an animal disease, and now more than two thousand reindeer have died there.

Since there is a very close living of people, they live next to the camps, that is, the sick and among them. Until one child died and had an intestinal form: he apparently ate contaminated meat.

Now they are engaged in a very important problem - the disposal of dead animals and the creation of a new burial ground for many years to come, with security so that people no longer have the opportunity to catch this bacterium.

Image copyright Reuters Image caption Spores and vegetative cells of the causative agent of anthrax - Bacillus anthracis - under the microscope

BBC: Does this mean that the Nenets reindeer herding communities are in a very vulnerable position in relation to this and other diseases that are transmitted through animals?

V.M .:Probably, to some extent, yes. They have such a life, they communicate most closely with animals, and this has been so for many centuries. It is probably better when people are separate, animals are separate, but this is the type of life that exists in many parts of the world. Although, of course, the children could have been kept away, probably.

BBC: How great is the public risk of this outbreak?Let's say, should people in Yamal, who are not reindeer herders and do not live close to them, be afraid of something?

V.M .: No, this infection is not transmitted in this way. It is dermal, that is, it is a contact transmission route, only people who communicated with deer.

In this case, there is a cutaneous form, only one boy had an intestinal form, and the cutaneous form is dangerous only upon contact. Since all patients with the cutaneous form are already isolated, the fact that someone will rub closely against this skin is out of the question, so the contact transmission route is not dangerous for the rest.

True, it is necessary to observe others, because we do not know how many people communicated with the deer.

Climate influence

BBC: What's the forecast and when is anthrax diagnosed in humans? What does it depend on?

V.M .: The prognosis depends on the time of initiation of treatment and on the form of the disease. When there were cases of bioterrorism in America, the disease was spread by airborne droplets. The pulmonary form, as in the cases of bioterrorism, is worse, and when cutaneous, it is usually considered that the mortality rate is up to 10%.

BBC: The last time anthrax was recorded in Yamal was in 1941, 75 years ago. Why is the disease coming back?

V.M .: Climate, climate. Climate change is having a profound impact. Old cattle burial grounds: apparently, just as long as there was permafrost, we did not know until the end what was there.

These places are poorly explored, and cattle burial grounds are dangerous for 100 years after burial, and now this situation has turned out with a sharp warming of the climate.

In other regions of Russia, access to cattle burial grounds is limited, they are known, they are guarded, no activity is conducted there. But here, all the same, there are nomadic places, huge spaces.

BBC: The anthrax vaccine manufacturer reportedly shipped 1,000 doses to Yamal. Who should get the vaccine first?

V.M .: Now we mainly vaccinate veterinarians and livestock breeders. Now we need to be especially careful, because we do not know: maybe some deer have already suffered mild forms of the disease, and people communicate with them.

You also need to vaccinate laboratory workers who work with bacteria. There is a vaccine, thank God. Many other diseases do not have it.

Now the main thing is to return to the issue of these cattle burial grounds in order to limit them so that animals do not climb there.

The number of people hospitalized from the anthrax outbreak in Yamal has increased from nine to 13 people, mostly children, local authorities report.

"Four more tundra residents from the Yamal tundra were brought to the Salekhard clinical hospital for additional examination and observation," the press service of the regional governor Dmitry Kobylkin quotes TASS.

"The medical staff conducts proactive treatment and is awaiting final tests by experts from Moscow. In parallel, children are being examined for other diseases," the ministry said.

It is noted that representatives of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug government and the Okrug's health department are in constant contact with the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation and relevant federal departments.

At the moment, over 20 different specialists are working at the outbreak site, the sanitary aviation is on duty around the clock. "At a distance of 80 km from the site, six 10-person tents have already been deployed from the material reserve of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug in case of emergencies. First of all, women and children are transported to a safe place by helicopters. Some heads of nomadic families expressed their intention to stay to help veterinarians and sanitary specialists - no more than 10 people ", - added the press service.

It also reported that 500 deer were vaccinated against anthrax on Monday. "For today (specialists will work until late at night), 2,500 will be vaccinated and tomorrow, July 27 - 1,000. Vaccinations are carried out in portable corral, which was delivered to the territory by helicopter the day before," the press service notes. In addition, sites are being prepared for the disposal of dead deer.

Anthrax outbreak recorded in Yamal for the first time in 75 years... To date, more than 1.5 thousand reindeer have died from it. Quarantine has been introduced in the Yamal region, the authorities assure that there is no threat to the population.

According to preliminary information from the authorities, the reason for the infection of the deer was an unusually warm summer. During the month, Yamal was experiencing an abnormal heat - up to 35 degrees above zero. " Thawed tundra contributed to the manifestation of the source of infection - the remains of an animal that fell once upon a time, - the website of the governor of Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug reports "The deer in this place were extremely weakened by the heat, which contributed to their infection."

According to the Rosselkhoznadzor, sporadic cases of anthrax disease in animals are registered in Russia: two or three unsuccessful sites and from two to seven sick animals are detected annually. At the same time, in the period from 2009 to 2014, 40 cases of human anthrax were registered in the country (43% more than in the previous five years) in three federal districts: 20 in the North Caucasus, 11 in Siberia and nine - in the South.

In 2015, three residents of the Balashovsky district of the Saratov region were diagnosed with anthrax. It turned out that all three were involved in the slaughter of the bull.

Anthrax is a particularly dangerous infectious disease of agricultural and wild animals of all types, as well as humans. The source of infection is wild animals and livestock, the disease is not transmitted from person to person.

Infection occurs by contact, the incubation period of the disease lasts an average of three to five days. The disease proceeds with lightning speed, characterized by hemorrhagic inflammation of the skin, lymph nodes and internal organs.