In the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, on August 1, a 12-year-old child died of anthrax. The next day, 20 local reindeer herders ended up in the hospital with infection. The governor of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Dmitry Kobylkin, ordered a thorough investigation into the circumstances of the incident, as well as providing the parents with psychological and all other necessary assistance.

“I was informed about the death of a boy in our hospital. There are no words to convey my condition. I sympathize and empathize with the parents. God knows, from the first day we played it safe, did everything possible to save the life of everyone in trouble. They literally fought for everyone's life. But the infection showed its insidiousness. Returning 75 years later, she took the life of a child...,” said the governor of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. According to "Laifa", we are talking about a boy from the Yar-Sala region named Denis. His grandmother also became a victim of anthrax - they both ate meat from a deer infected with anthrax.

The head of the region also addressed those in the quarantine zone: “Dear Yamal residents! Countrymen! There is nothing more valuable than life. Take care of yourself, carefully follow the recommendations of doctors, and ensure that others follow them. We will defeat this infection. We are not alone, everyone helps us.

But today we all must be attentive and extremely careful so as not to give the infection a single chance!”

About 90 people are now hospitalized with suspected anthrax, taken from the source of the disease, the governor's press secretary Natalya Khlopunova. “Everyone’s dynamics are good. Doctors monitor their condition around the clock. There are about 50 children among those hospitalized,” she said. On Tuesday, the press service also said that anthrax was confirmed in 20 reindeer herders who are in the Salekhard district hospital.

Panic rumors are spreading in the city itself, for example, that anthrax spores have already entered the city's water supply. The authorities deny these reports and urge people not to panic. “There is no epidemic in Yamal. Quarantine was introduced locally; the district’s borders are not closed to the entry and exit of people,” the governor’s press service said.

No infection was also found in wastewater samples in Salekhard.

Russian Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova sent the chief infectious disease specialist of the Ministry of Health, Professor Irina Shestakova, as well as specialists from the Research Institute of Children's Infections to the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug to provide assistance to regional doctors. Gazeta.Ru also learned that the head of the Federal Medical and Biological Agency (FMBA of Russia), Vladimir Nikiforov, is now in Yamal. He refused to comment on the situation in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, but noted that anthrax will not reach Moscow.

To combat the infection, 200 specialists from the radiation, chemical and biological defense troops (RKhBZ) of the Central Military District (CMD) arrived in Yamal. To conduct decontamination work in the area, 30 units of military and special equipment have been allocated, including off-road vehicles and filling stations, as well as aircraft and helicopters of the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS). Before sending the military, they were given preventive vaccinations.

The main task of the RCBZ troops was to destroy the remains of infected animals - anthrax spores die at a temperature of 140 degrees Celsius.

“When burning, they use old car tires, fire mixtures and petroleum products. Upon completion, the soil is treated with a disinfectant solution,” said Colonel Yaroslav Roshchupkin, assistant commander of the Central Military District. To date, the remains of more than 50 deer have been destroyed.

The military’s actions have already yielded results: as of Tuesday, the outbreak of anthrax in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug has been localized, and there is no threat of its spread to other regions, Rospotrebnadzor reports. All activities will continue until all animals are vaccinated and the department is sure of the safety of people, she said "Interfax" on Tuesday, the head of Rospotrebnadzor Anna Popova. “Today, 10 people who have completed antibiotic prophylaxis are being discharged from the infectious diseases hospital,” she clarified.

At the same time, of those who were not hospitalized, but were under medical supervision and received antibiotic prophylaxis (269 people), today 151 people have completed it safely.

The last time an anthrax outbreak was recorded in Yamal was in 1941 - then 6,700 deer died, while only 313 were killed. From the end of the 19th century to 1941, 68 outbreaks of this infection occurred on the peninsula. However, already in 1968, the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug was officially included in the list of territories of the USSR “clean” from anthrax, and since then not a single case of infection has been recorded.

The current infection has affected three reindeer herds, resulting in more than 1,500 deaths.

Currently, control over herds has been strengthened throughout the district, and reindeer herders have been given a special leaflet with infection prevention measures and a brief description of the nature of anthrax.

In addition, a ban has been introduced on the export of any meat, antlers and skins from the Yamal region. Veterinary control and inspection have been strengthened at all airports, train stations, river ports and all transport hubs of the Autonomous Okrug. Nomads who find themselves at the epicenter of the infection are being vaccinated, and reindeer herders from other territories will also be vaccinated for safety.

Even before it became known that anthrax had struck the district, reindeer herders associated the death of animals with abnormal heat: for almost a month before the outbreak of infection, the temperature was in the range of 30-35 degrees, which is detrimental to reindeer. Some specialists suggest that deer, searching for food in an area of ​​thawed permafrost, stumbled upon the carcass of a long-dead animal infected with anthrax, and thus began to transmit the infection. Now veterinarians have to vaccinate more than 40 thousand heads of the world's largest herd of reindeer.

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

“Four more tundra dwellers from the Yamal tundra were brought to the Salekhard Clinical Hospital for additional examination and observation,” TASS quoted the press service of the region’s governor, Dmitry Kobylkin, as saying.

“Medical staff are conducting proactive treatment and awaiting final tests from experts from Moscow. At the same time, children are undergoing preventive examinations for the presence of other diseases,” the department said.

It is noted that representatives of the government of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug and the district’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, and air ambulance personnel are on duty around the clock. “At a distance of 80 km from the site, six 10-person tents from the material reserve of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug in case of emergency have already been deployed. First of all, women and children are being transported to a safe place by helicopter. Some heads of nomadic families have expressed their intention to stay to help veterinarians and sanitary specialists - no more than 10 people,” the press service added.

It is also reported that 500 deer were vaccinated against anthrax on Monday. “Today (specialists will work until late at night) 2.5 thousand will be vaccinated and tomorrow, July 27 - 1 thousand. Vaccination is carried out in a portable corral, which was delivered to the territory by helicopter the day before,” the press service notes. In addition, places are being prepared for the disposal of dead deer.

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

According to preliminary data from the authorities, the cause of infection of the deer was an unusually warm summer. For a month, Yamal experienced abnormal heat - up to 35 degrees above zero. " The thawed tundra contributed to the emergence of the source of infection- the remains of an animal that died long ago, reports the website of the governor of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. “The deer in this area were extremely weakened due to the heat, which contributed to their infection.”

According to Rosselkhoznadzor, sporadic cases of anthrax disease in animals are registered in Russia: every year two or three points unfavorable for the disease and from two to seven sick animals are identified. Moreover, between 2009 and 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 Siberian and nine - in Yuzhny.

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 through contact; the incubation period of the disease lasts on average three to five days. The disease progresses with lightning speed and is characterized by hemorrhagic inflammation of the skin, lymph nodes and internal organs.

According to Rospotrebnadzor, the outbreak of anthrax infection in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug has been localized. A 12-year-old teenager died. 90 people have been hospitalized, and vaccination of people and animals continues in populated areas. To combat the consequences of the epidemic, additional army units have been deployed to the region to destroy dead livestock and disinfect the area. The Investigative Committee is conducting a pre-investigation check. Lenta.ru looked into the causes and consequences of anthrax.

Biological attack

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

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

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

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

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

In parallel with the military operation, security forces 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 TFR has not yet reported on the suspects, but the committee is most interested in the activities of government agencies 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 outbreak began. Investigators collect and summarize all known circumstances.

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

In the “dirty” area affected by the disease, specialists take samples of soil, water, air, vegetation and insects for laboratory research. Evacuation and vaccination of people from nearby areas continues. Universal vaccination of animals is carried out.

In the hearth

There is no threat of anthrax spreading to other regions. The head of Rospotrebnadzor, Anna Popova, told Lenta.ru about this.

“The outbreak has been localized. There is no threat to people 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 territory,” she emphasized.

Popova also said that on Tuesday, August 2, 10 people were discharged from the infectious diseases hospital after receiving 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, 269 people, 151 people successfully completed antibiotic prophylaxis,” the head of the supervisory agency summarized.

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 calls with suspected anthrax, according to the administration of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug.

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

On the needle

The chief epidemiologist of Yamal, Lyudmila Volova, reported on the progress of the vaccination campaign on Tuesday, August 2. “We started doing this from the “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, Nadymsky districts of the district.

In total, half a million people live in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. According to the chief infectious disease specialist at 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 problematic 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, due to the nature of their work and life, do not come into contact with animals or materials obtained from them, then I think that it is quite possible not to get vaccinated.”

There are victims

On August 1, it was reported that a 12-year-old teenager with a confirmed diagnosis of anthrax died in a Salekhard hospital. The administration of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug 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 to restore the course of treatment of the deceased child minute by minute and provide his parents with all the necessary assistance.

Information spread in the media that the boy’s grandmother, with whom he ate together, also died from anthrax, but the district government did not confirm this.

“An elderly woman was also in the hotbed of infection. She died a week ago, but had nothing to do with the dead boy. Samples have been taken from her, but anthrax has not yet been confirmed,” Nadezhda Noskova, head of the press service for the governor of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, told Komsomolskaya Pravda.

Living bacillus

Spores of the bacterium bacillus anthracis, the causative agent of the disease, are particularly tenacious and can survive up to 200 years. The source of infection most often is cattle. The corpse of an animal killed by anthrax contaminates the soil. Moss moss grown in such an area is dangerous for other animals. The disease is not transmitted from person to person.

The latest outbreak of the 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 different names since ancient times. At the end of the 18th century, the Russian doctor Stepan Andreevsky assigned its modern name. The human vaccine was created in 1940 by Nikolai Ginsburg and Alexander Tamarin from the Sanitary-Technical Institute of the Red Army. The military needed the medicine because the Japanese tried to use anthrax spores as a bacteriological weapon in Manchuria.

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

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

The disease can occur in pulmonary, skin and intestinal forms. The incubation period ranges from several hours to 2-3 days. The cutaneous form is the most common. 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 a cold followed by pneumonia. Unlike skin disease, even with high-quality and timely treatment, death from it occurs in 50 percent of cases.

The intestinal form is considered the rarest - this is what the boy who died in Salekhard fell ill with. At an early stage it is difficult to identify - the symptoms are similar to food poisoning.

Of 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 Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, Professor Elena Volchkova, it is impossible to completely eradicate anthrax, since it is a natural focal disease, writes Medportal.ru. But the infection spreads beyond the focus extremely rarely. As for artificial reservoirs, all cattle burial grounds are under the protection of authorized government agencies. And here everything depends on the responsibility of officials.

There are, however, irresponsible livestock owners who, if an animal becomes ill, try to quietly slaughter it and sell it. So the human factor also plays a big role.

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

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

20 cases of anthrax have been confirmed, Irina Shestakova, chief freelance infectious disease specialist at the Russian Ministry of Health, just reported. In the evening, the Minister of Health clarified: 23 cases. People were transported from the outbreak of the disease and are in the infectious diseases department in Salekhard.

There are more than two thousand dead deer. This is a small part of the total population. The total number of the Yamal herd ranges from 700 thousand to a million heads on calving days.

One child could not be saved. He had a form of the disease that is almost untreatable. They brought him in on Saturday, and on Sunday morning the boy was gone.
There were rumors that his grandmother had died of anthrax a few days earlier. An infectious disease specialist comments: doctors don’t know why a woman born in 1937 died in the tundra. This happened a few days before the outbreak was identified. Whatever the reason, experts are treating it as if it were anthrax.

Wastewater from the hospital flows into the Ob River through treatment facilities. Can the pathogen get into nature in this way?

This issue is strictly, strictly controlled. All waste products of patients and contacts are destroyed according to the rules. Rospotrebnadzor conducted studies of wastewater at the exit from the hospital and at the exit from the treatment plant.
Purely.

The disease is almost never transmitted from person to person. The main route of infection is through sick animals and through contaminated soil.

The dead boy ate deer meat with blood. All patients were simply in the contaminated area; they have a skin form, which is more easily tolerated. All contacts, about a hundred of them, were also taken to the Salekhard hospital. They receive chemoprophylaxis.

Information for hunters. It is almost impossible not to notice that an animal is suffering from anthrax: the disease progresses rapidly, sometimes within 3-4 hours. In any case, it is clear that the animal is sick.

There were rumors that it is not recommended to pick berries and mushrooms throughout Yamal. Spores live in the ground for a hundred years - this is confirmed by science. Maybe more. In the infected zone, it is strictly prohibited to collect wild plants and mow grass. And although Salekhard is far from the danger zone, I will refrain from walking in the forest and any collecting.

It is impossible to be a carrier of anthrax. If the spores enter the body, the disease will manifest itself.

Vaccination has begun. From the “clean” zone they move to the source of disease in order to localize it. The outbreak is located in the Yamal region. Every resident of Yamal can get vaccinated. But the infectious disease specialist suggests taking a reasonable approach to vaccination.

It makes sense to vaccinate:
- if you are at risk (work with meat, animal skins);
- if you are planning a trip to a danger zone in the near future.

In other cases, it doesn't make much sense.

Do not buy meat, fish, berries, or mushrooms from others.

Anthrax is characterized by fever, skin ulcers, and enlarged lymph nodes. There are other, less characteristic signs. If a disease is suspected, treatment with antibacterial drugs is immediately started according to a special regimen in accordance with the international protocol.

Even if you have not been to the infection zone, but have discovered the slightest similar signs in yourself, do not self-medicate under any circumstances. Let's run to the doctor!

The outbreak is also localized in herds. Not only the surviving deer from the affected herds were vaccinated, but also in the surrounding area for several tens of kilometers - a kind of safety cushion was created.

Doctors do not expect a further increase in the number of cases, according to the Interfax agency. A total of 90 people are now in quarantine in hospitals, more than half of them are children. 10 patients are being prepared for discharge - they have completed all the necessary preventive procedures. As reported by Rospotrebnadzor, the outbreak of the disease has already been localized, and there is no threat of the infection spreading to other regions.

One by one, heavy cargo planes, people, equipment, and about 50 tons of disinfectants arrive in Yamal.

Rescuers, military personnel, and chemical and biological defense teams are already on site. In a dangerous area, soldiers in gas masks and special clothing work for no longer than 2.5 hours.

“Efforts are beginning to destroy the corpses of dead animals, to vaccinate the population that remains in the zone, to vaccinate animals and treat animals that are at risk,” said Deputy Governor of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug Mikhail Kagan.

Specialists carry out sanitization and disinfection of areas. Now more than 20 thousand square meters have been processed in the outbreak. Rospotrebnadzor is confident that the spread of infection has been stopped.

“The outbreak has been localized, today we know the names of all those people who had a risk of becoming infected. To date, the activities that were necessary in this time interval have been localized and carried out. There is no risk for the population of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation, and there is no risk for the population of other constituent entities, even adjacent ones today,” said the head of Rospotrebnadzor Anna Popova.

According to the latest data, anthrax has been confirmed in 20 people; they are in the Salekhard district hospital and are undergoing treatment. It was not possible to save a 12-year-old boy; due to eating raw meat from infected deer, he was struck by a rare intestinal form of the disease. A total of 90 people were hospitalized. Fortunately, the diagnosis is not confirmed for most; the first 10 people are already preparing for discharge.

To exclude new infections, Yamal nomads were evacuated from areas close to the outbreak. Special towns with everything they needed were set up for them.

They help with clothing and food in large cities and towns; special collection points are opened everywhere.

Experts associate this outbreak with abnormal heat for the Far North. For a whole month it was around +35, so the anthrax spores could literally thaw in the permafrost. Quarantine was introduced last week. Then it became known that more than two thousand deer died from a dangerous infection.

Veterinarians are trying to save the surviving deer population. Mass vaccination is underway. All infection control measures will continue for at least another two weeks.