In the Moscow region, two people were hospitalized with suspected anthrax, transmits REN-TV. Preliminary tests have not confirmed the disease, but patients continue to be under medical supervision. Presumably they were infected in Chuvashia, where two more cases of anthrax were recorded in mid-March. RTVI tells what is known about it.
According to preliminary data, patients with suspected anthrax arrived in the Moscow region from Chuvashia. There in March 2023 two people been infected anthrax when slaughtering a bull carcass.
According to the Investigative Committee, the owner of the bull from the village of Staroe Aktashevo did not inoculate anthrax animals. The department has already initiated criminal proceedings for violation of veterinary rules and established rules for the control of plant diseases and pests. In the village itself, quarantine has been introduced until further notice, and in the municipal district of Tsivilsky, where the village is located, a state of emergency is in effect.
The Moscow region health ministry said preliminary tests of the patients did not confirm they had anthrax.
Why is anthrax dangerous?
Anthrax is a particularly dangerous infectious disease with a characteristic rapid course. The incubation period can range from a few days to several hours. Symptoms of anthrax are aching pain in the lower back, fever, headache, inflammation of the skin and lymph nodes, weakness and chills. Ulcers with black crusts also appear at the site of infection.
The danger of anthrax lies in its complications. Among them are swelling of the brain, inflammation of its membranes, swelling and inflammation of the lungs, bleeding from the stomach and inflammation of the intestines, as well as a critical drop in blood pressure.
How contagious is anthrax
Most often, anthrax occurs after direct contact with sick farm animals. Outbreaks of anthrax in livestock are associated with foci of infection in the soil: it can get there from sick animals or their corpses, as well as extraneously – through spores spread by rain or l melt water.
At the same time, anthrax spores can persist in the soil for decades, and epidemics occur when the integrity of animal burials, especially cattle, is violated, Elena Malinnikova, head of the virology department of the RMANPO of the Russian Ministry of Health, told RTVI.
“Anthrax is transmitted by its spores. If the meat is cooked and eaten, passed through the gastrointestinal tract, people do not get sick. Usually people get sick when slaughtering a carcass. If they are cut, there is a violation of the skin, forms of skin infection occur. If the spores are on the wool, inhalation of the spores is possible – the pulmonary form develops, it is more dangerous and can be transmitted from person to person. But such cases are very rare. Most often these are cutaneous forms,” Malinnikova explained.
At the same time, according to the virologist, the cutaneous form of anthrax, which most often affects humans, responds well to treatment. The pulmonary form can be a serious threat to life.
The main way to prevent anthrax is vaccination. It is shown to all people at risk, i.e. working with livestock. Those who are not involved in such activities are advised to avoid contact with wild animals and not to buy meat products and skins from unauthorized trading places.
Major anthrax outbreaks
According to Elena Malinnikova, in Russia, anthrax is mainly observed in Dagestan and in the north, in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District. Annually, according to information TASS, an average of 11 human cases are registered in Russia. However, deaths are rare.
A large epidemic of anthrax was recorded in the YaNAO in 2016. Then in the tundra, 200 km from the village of Yar-Sale, deer began to die from this disease, about 36 people were infected with it, the one of them died. The release of anthrax in 2016 was explained by abnormally high temperatures and a weak development of the veterinary service in the region. Due to its small number, as well as the lack of means of communication between reindeer herders, specialists learned of the death of the reindeer late. Troops of radiation, chemical and biological protection (RCBZ) of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation took part in the suppression of the epidemic, transmitted RIA News”.
The largest anthrax epidemic in the history of the USSR and Russia occurred in 1979 in Yekaterinburg (Sverdlovsk). According to official figures, 96 people have fallen ill, of whom 64 have died. The official reason was then called the sale of infected beef, but there was also a version of the infection due to a strain leak in a closed military town.
