12:06 — REGNUM 90 million rubles will be allocated from the district budget to Yamal tundra workers who lost their property during sanitation from anthrax, a correspondent was told IA REGNUM in the press service of the governor of the region.
These funds will be used to equip about 100 new tents for the families of reindeer herders. Until resettlement, all tundra dwellers will continue to stay in Yar-Sale under medical supervision for antibiotic therapy. All residents from the quarantine zone, namely 211 people, will be vaccinated. The livestock of deer from the quarantine zone is fully vaccinated. Veterinarians report that deer deaths have stopped. The livestock of neighboring territories will be vaccinated - another 200 thousand doses of vaccine for animals will be delivered to Yamal in the coming days.
As previously reported IA REGNUM, from the 20th of July, signals began to come from the Yamal region that the reindeer had an abnormally high temperature, the case began. By the weekend, the most difficult situation was in the herds of private reindeer herders near the trading post of Tarko-Sale in the Yamal region and in the reindeer herding brigade roaming nearby. Losses among deer at that time amounted to 1200 heads, today - more than 2300. Analysis of samples taken from animals showed the cause of the death - anthrax spores. From July 25 in YNAO by order of the governor Dmitry Kobylkin introduced quarantine in the Yamal region. At first, experts assured that there was no threat to people, the tundra dwellers were examined - no anthrax patients were found among them. Since July 22, a general practitioner was next to the reindeer herders, who monitored their health. However, yesterday, on August 1, it became known about the death of a 12-year-old child from anthrax. “As of 5:00 am on August 2, 90 people were delivered to the Salekhard Design Bureau. Of these, 54 are children,” a source in medical circles told Life.ru.
According to experts, the place of a long-standing death of a sick animal, opened due to the heat, was the likely cause of infection of the deer. There are no cattle burial grounds in the Yamal region, but given the viability of the anthrax pathogen - 100 years or more and its resistance to temperature changes - it is assumed that the deer, in search of food, stumbled upon the place of an animal that died from anthrax and then infected each other. Experts believe that the unusually warm summer for the Far North became the reason for the infection of the deer. The thawed tundra and the deer weakened by the heat and wind helped spread the deadly infection.
Now a ban has been introduced on the export of any meat, antlers, skins from the Yamal region. Strengthened veterinary control and screening at all airports, railway stations, river ports and all transport hubs of the Autonomous Okrug. There is no slaughter of deer at this time of the year in Yamal, so residents and guests of the region are urged not to buy deer meat in spontaneous markets. Residents of the district are also advised not to collect wild plants and mushrooms.
At the site of the outbreak of anthrax, work is underway to eliminate the dead animals. More than 200 liquidators are equipped with special equipment, their own laboratory, and special equipment to eliminate the infection and decontaminate the territory. As the correspondent was told IA REGNUM in the regional Rospotrebnadzor, all subject objects and housing stock in the village of Yar-Sale are covered by continuous deratization. Already processed 23 thousand 069 square meters. m. Disinfection measures are carried out at the airports of Salekhard and Yar-Sale. Disinfection points for helicopters and sanitary sites have been deployed. More than 200 water studies have been carried out.
At the railway station. Vladimir Naka (Obskaya-Bovanenkovo railway) deployed a military camp. Highly qualified employees of the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Emergency Situations, Rospotrebnadzor, the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation have already been sent to support colleagues in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug.
Residents of Yamal are urged not to succumb to provocateurs who incite panic. There is no epidemic in Yamal. The quarantine has been introduced locally, and the borders of the district for the entry and exit of people are not closed.
Today, August 2, the Minister of Health of the Russian Federation Veronika Skvortsova flew to Salekhard, where she will hold a meeting on the organization of medical care and anti-epidemic measures in connection with the outbreak of anthrax in the YaNAO. The minister will also visit the district hospital and examine the sick and personally check the organization of care directly at the source of the disease, according to the Ministry of Health.
Recall that the last recorded case of an anthrax outbreak was recorded in Yamal in 1941. Since 1968, the entire territory of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug has been officially recognized as free from this infection. According to the Rosselkhoznadzor, sporadic cases of anthrax in animals are registered annually in Russia: two or three points with an unfavorable disease and from two to seven sick animals. From 2009 to 2014, 40 human cases of anthrax were reported in Russia, a 43% increase over the previous five years. Anthrax was detected in three federal districts of Russia: North Caucasian - 20 cases, South - 9 cases and Siberian - 11 cases.
MOSCOW, August 3 — RIA Novosti, Larisa Zhukova. The outbreak of anthrax hit the Yamalo-Nenets region for the first time in 75 years. Recently 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 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.
Causes of the outbreak
Quarantine in the Yamal district of the district 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 authorities did not report on the incident: "We learned all the information primarily from social networks from relatives of doctors and rescuers of the Ministry of Emergency Situations," said Galina (not her real name), a resident of Salekhard.
"The scale of the epidemic was also affected by the fact that at first they thought 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,"
Told a local resident Ivan (name changed).
Anthrax was found in 20 Nenets. The figures were given 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 sickIn total, more than 2.3 thousand animals died due to the outbreak of the disease. To eliminate the consequences of an anthrax outbreak, 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 at the center of the outbreak in the tundra. Most of them have a cutaneous form of the disease.
This is not complete data on the number of cases, the governor of the district, Dmitry Kobylkin, told RIA Novosti. According to him, to establish an accurate diagnosis, you need up to thirty days: today is only the eighth day.
In 2007, 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 the epidemic was in 1941. I had to ask for the help of the military: "It was hard to quickly dispose of the fallen deer on our own, until they decomposed. And they are scattered at a great distance," said Dmitry Kobylkin.
What is the danger of the disease
“Anthrax is quite contagious and causes a large number of deaths,” said Vladislav Zhemchugov, MD, a specialist in especially dangerous infections. “The spores of the pathogen are stored in the soil for centuries. An infection that got into 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 ice, as in Yamal.
The disease occurs in different forms: skin, intestinal and pulmonary. The pulmonary form, for example, was in the US when envelopes with spores were sent out - this is the most severe variant of the infection. Almost one hundred percent fatal without urgent medical intervention: people lose consciousness and die within a few hours after infection.
“The skin form is easier to cure, because the lymph nodes stand in the way of the bacteria: they delay the development of the disease. Carbuncles are a sign of infection - abscesses with a black tip. The intestinal form of anthrax causes high fever, pain in the intestines and diarrhea. The period from infection to death can amount to several hours or days," Vladislav Zhemchugov specified.
Most often, infection occurs when eating or cutting the meat of 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 (not his real name). - "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, nomadic reindeer herders refuse to consider anthrax a real threat.
According to local media, the child who died of anthrax not only ate contaminated deer meat, but also drank its blood. "This is a traditional food of the northern peoples who live in the tundra and lack food diversity. Fresh blood gives them energy," said Andrey Podluzhnov, a veterinarian and red deer breeder.
According to him, nomads meet with civilization twice a year, when they come to sell 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 Yamalo-Nenets District, 35 thousand deer were vaccinated, the 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 deer is practically a totemic animal. The whole life of a reindeer breeder is centered around it. For a nomad, losing a deer means losing everything. This is their bread, home, transport. Reindeer breeders do not know how to do anything else. The livestock can be reduced greatly: by about three quarters "And it is extremely difficult to restore the population. For the local population, this will be a humanitarian catastrophe,"
Andrey Podluzhnov emphasized.
There is no threat to other regions
The causative agent of anthrax can penetrate through water and dust raised from the surface of the soil from the region of infection. Despite this, experts note that the likelihood of such an infection is extremely small. In the quarantine zone, doctors recommend drinking bottled water or from underground sources. Yamal authorities have 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 carrier of the infection. But those birds that are now nesting in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug will fly to Southeast Asia, India and Australia for wintering, told RIA Novosti Doctor of Biological Sciences, Professor of Moscow State University named after M.V. Lomonosov 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 could not be proven 100%.
The first victims of anthrax appeared in Yamal - the infection caused the death of a 12-year-old child. Eight more tundra dwellers who found themselves in the zone of anthrax were diagnosed, and just over 200 people are in quarantine. Expert epidemiologists told MedNovosti about what happened in Yamal and what anthrax is for a modern person.
On Monday, it became known about the death of a 12-year-old child infected with anthrax. According to the press service of the governor of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, a sick boy from the focus of a dangerous infection was sent to the Salekhard district hospital. He was ill with an intestinal form of anthrax, which is difficult to diagnose.
Another eight residents of Yamal, who found themselves in the zone of occurrence of anthrax, were diagnosed. All of them receive intensive treatment. In relation to other tundra dwellers from the quarantine zone and the territories closest to the outbreak - and there are 211 of them - preventive measures are being taken. There are 72 people in the Salekhard hospital, including 41 children.
According to official data, 2.3 thousand deer died from anthrax in the region, the infection from which was transmitted to people. Now, thanks to the prompt vaccination of healthy deer in the tundra and the treatment of sick ones, the death of animals has practically stopped.
Expert epidemiologists told MedNovosti about what happened in Yamal and what anthrax is for a modern person.
Elena Volchkova: “It is impossible to get anthrax in your kitchen”
Elena Volchkova, Head of the Department of Infectious Diseases, PMSMU named after I.I. THEM. Sechenov. Photo: Azj.rus4all.ru
As explained by the Department of Infectious Diseases of the First Moscow State Medical University. Sechenov, Professor Elena Volchkova, since anthrax is a natural focal disease, it cannot be completely eradicated. The bacteria themselves Vasillaceae die quickly under the influence of environmental factors, but spores are very resistant to these factors and can persist for decades in soil and for years in water. And if the natural reservoirs of accumulation of anthrax spores are violated, then both an animal and a person can become infected with this infection. Now in Yamal, as a result of abnormal heat, natural foci have opened up and, possibly, old burials have come to the surface. And the deer that ate the reindeer moss growing there fell ill.
Most often, cattle and livestock are the first to fall ill; anthrax is transmitted to humans mainly by contact. You can become infected when slaughtering and butchering a sick animal, during processing or any other contact with its skin. First of all, the hands that come into contact with the infection suffer. However, any wound on the skin, including on the legs, can become the entrance gate for infection. That is why you should not once again walk barefoot through unknown meadows and fields, in the soil of which a source of natural focal disease can accumulate and multiply. In general, it is always worth trying to protect the skin whenever you are in nature, because there are still a lot of other dangers - from ticks to blood-sucking insects that carry many infections.
What happens when you get infected and is there a cure for anthrax?
When infected with anthrax, reddening of the skin initially appears, then a bubble forms at the site of the spot, which bursts and an ulcerative lesion appears. After about a week, the skin lesion takes the form of a carbuncle. And all this against the background of a temperature reaction, general malaise, weakness.
This so-called skin form illness. Theoretically, it can be confused with another skin disease. But, since isolated cases of the disease are very rare, and outbreaks of infection in humans immediately follow outbreaks in animals, the correct diagnosis is established quickly enough. The cutaneous form of anthrax is well treated with modern antibiotics, especially with timely hospitalization. In addition, detoxification of the patient's body is carried out, immunoglobulins are used, and general therapy is prescribed. If untreated, mortality is 10-20%.
The so-called generalized form infection that occurs as a result of getting into the human body with infected meat, or by airborne droplets (during the same processing of skins and wool). The generalized form, in which the entire body suffers, can also develop with the skin form of the disease, if the infection enters the bloodstream. But, as a rule, skin forms begin to heal quickly, and the possibility of their generalization is unlikely. But the initially generalized forms are really very severe and their mortality, especially without treatment, can reach 90-95%.
There is no danger for the inhabitants of central Russia and Siberia today. Maps of animal burial grounds have been preserved and are under protection. True, sometimes people themselves provoke problems when, not knowing that there were burials on these lands, they begin their unauthorized development, intensive private construction. Theoretically, in addition to cattle burial grounds, former farmlands or grazing areas for a large number of animals can be dangerous. It is impossible to get anthrax in your kitchen. The main thing is in no case to buy untested meat in unknown outlets, along the roads, that is, wherever there is no sanitary supervision. Unfortunately, there are many unscrupulous livestock owners who, in the event of an illness of an animal, quickly slaughter it and drag it for sale.
Mikhail Shchelkanov: “The monitoring system for cattle burial grounds should work like clockwork”
Mikhail Shchelkanov, Head of the Laboratory of Virological Research, Center for Hygiene and Epidemiology in the Primorsky Territory. Photo: Ok.ru
Mikhail Shchelkanov, professor at the Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU), head of the laboratory for virological research at the Center for Hygiene and Epidemiology in the Primorsky Territory, said that the emergency in Yamal provoked an extremely hot summer, due to which one of the old forgotten deer burial grounds thawed and opened up.
In permafrost conditions, the already extremely tenacious anthrax spores can remain in alkaline soil for more than a hundred years. Moreover, being well preserved in a natural refrigerator - a half-meter soft “cushion” of reindeer moss and various dead plants located above the ice - anthrax can periodically germinate, forming new spores. When the temperature rises, bacteria can melt out of the permafrost layer - and this is the most dangerous option.
Fortunately, due to the low population density, the outbreak in Yamal was quickly contained. Of course, this required serious efforts by local specialists, who had to be thrown into the tundra by helicopters, but there was no need to take any measures on a national scale. It would have been much more difficult in a more densely populated region or in the case of intensive transport links between this territory and the European part of the country. And then it turned out such a natural quarantine.
When and where the ill-fated burial ground was created, it is impossible to say - this is information for official use. Moreover, even the localization of the place of death of animals in the case of anthrax is classified information. Because the same bioterrorists can go there in hot pursuit and collect deadly material. But the conclusion from the situation is obvious: the monitoring system of animal burial grounds should work like clockwork. And if in some regions there seems to be a situation of epizootic well-being for some infections (that is, there is no threat of the spread of this or that infection among animals), this is no reason to relax.
Anthrax is called anthrax because the vast expanses of Western and Eastern Siberia are one of the most intense epizootic and, as a result, epidemic (if there is contact with a person) natural foci of this disease. Just like the northern territories of the country. Large herds of animals graze here. And if, God forbid, a case occurs, giant burial grounds appear, which must be strictly controlled. But there is no one to do this. And in general, it's like with the disposal of radioactive waste - no matter how reliable protection you set up, sooner or later a leak will occur.
Therefore, it is better not to arrange burials, but to debug the system of burning the carcasses of dead animals. Veterinarians have such capacities, but they are simply not enough in the event of a mass death. This means that mobile incinerators and purposeful investments in this are not so big. And we will have enough problems with the old burial grounds for many years to come.
“Literally in May, we had a conference at FEFU, at which one of my students, a guy from Uzbekistan, made a report on this topic,” Shchelkanov said. - I thought it was very important, because there are a lot of forgotten burial grounds in Central Asia. But I did not imagine that we also have such burial grounds in the North, about which we do not know everything. And one of them worked."
According to the latest data, there are no new infected in Yamal - neither people nor deer. But the military is still on the front lines, dealing with the worst anthrax outbreak in decades. Employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations are engaged in the placement of evacuated indigenous people, and the restoration of property abandoned by the Nenets may be entrusted to prisoners.
Yamal Zone
“Feet shoulder-width apart, arms apart! Expand your arms, spread your legs! Turn around!" Soldiers leaving the anthrax-infested area after six hours of work lined up in front of the helicopter. Their protective suits are completely treated with a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and acetic acid.
Six teams of thirteen people work daily in the focus of infection in the Yamal region of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. All are officers serving on a contract basis and trained to work in conditions of infection. Each group includes military biologists who monitor the safety of personnel and adherence to the disinfection procedure.
Now the contingent of the forces of the Ministry of Defense in the region is 276 people, said Major General Valery Vasilyev, head of the armed forces at the emergency site, commander of the radiation, chemical and biological defense forces of the Central Military District. "It's enough. There is also a second tier: another 200 people have been vaccinated and are gaining immunity. But for now, they are not needed. The more people, the more transport is needed and the higher the risk of violating security requirements,” explains Vasiliev. The zone of infection, according to him, is a section 15 by 27 kilometers long on the Yamal Peninsula. Outside of it, no cases of the disease were recorded.
The main task of the military is to dispose of the bodies of dead animals and disinfect the area. However, no timeframe has yet been announced for when the work will be completed.
“During the first three days, we destroyed about 350 carcasses, and every day we are increasing the volume,” the Major General continues. - The groups work by combining two methods, which makes it possible to ensure the elimination of local foci of infection in the place where deer die. The first is incineration. It already kills anthrax. The temperature regime for the destruction of spores is 140-150 degrees. Using rubber products, oil and fire mixtures, we bring the temperature up to 400-500 degrees. Then we disinfect the area with bleach."
Cleanup
Many bonfires are burning around the Yarata lakes, in the vicinity of the abandoned summer camp of reindeer herders. It was here, according to social media reports, that the pestilence killed about 1,200 deer. The total number of animals killed in the danger zone - 2349, according to the administration of the Yamal region, has not increased over the past week. In parallel with work in places of mass loss of livestock, the military is reconnaissance of the surroundings from the air.
“We carry out reconnaissance of the contaminated area, take the coordinates and transfer them to the headquarters, after which specialists are sent to the place who are engaged in disinfection. We fly at an extremely low altitude, from 50 to 100 meters, which is enough to detect the bodies of dead animals. We make from five to ten sorties a day,” said pilot-navigator Rushan Galiev. In total, four Mi-8s of the Ministry of Defense, which arrived from the Chelyabinsk and Sverdlovsk regions, and three helicopters of a regional airline operate in the Yamal region.
On the ground, vaccinated and vaccinated local residents help the helicopter pilots, marking the deer carcasses with flags. The indigenous population significantly facilitated the work of the cleansing groups. As Pavel Laptander, a resident of the district, said, since the beginning of the mass mortality, reindeer herders have been independently setting up burial grounds in the tundra. “There are a hundred or more deer in each pit. They are scattered anywhere, the main number is in a section of about eight by ten kilometers, ”the Yamal resident specified.
“Reindeer herders told us about seven mass graves, closed and open. We carried out reconnaissance in order to mark these places on the epizootic map and disinfect them. Before that, we will take samples for analysis in order to determine a specific strain of anthrax,” explained Valery Vasiliev.
No new cases
All people and equipment involved in the elimination of the consequences of the disease undergo multi-stage disinfection in order to avoid infection of personnel and not to spread bacteria and spores to new territories. In addition to the double treatment of protective suits and gas masks, the skin is disinfected with alcohol, the helicopter interior, landing gear, doorway and air intakes are washed with a solution of DTSGK (two-tertiary salt of calcium hypochlorite - an analogue of bleach). All military personnel working in a dangerous area undergo a medical examination twice a day in a camp deployed on a safe territory - the Vladimir Naka station of the Obskaya-Bovanenkovo railway.
“My task is to work with people who are sent to dispose of dead animals,” said Nail Karimov, a district physician assigned to the troops from the city of Labytnangi. - Every day before departure and after returning, we perform thermometry and examination of the skin. All soldiers have been immunized, and we also give out chemoprevention pills against signature. Control is carried out constantly. There are no sick people in the camp, and even those with a fever. As a result of the outbreak, only local residents who were in contact with animals, representatives of the indigenous nationality, suffered.
With a confirmed diagnosis of anthrax, as already Lenta.ru, there were 23 people in the Salekhard medical facility. Later, 13 more patients were identified, and three dozen tundra dwellers are now receiving treatment, most of them children and adolescents. This number has not increased in recent days. The only victim of the infection is a 12-year-old child, who was brought from the tundra last week in a serious condition and soon died of an intestinal form of the disease. During hospitalization, doctors found out that he had eaten deer meat and blood.
At the same time, as Natalia Khlopunova, the press secretary of the governor of the YaNAO, said, by August 5, the first five tundra dwellers from among those previously delivered with suspicion of anthrax left the hospital in Salekhard, including one child. Another 25 northerners were preparing for discharge in the rehabilitation department, 66 people remained under observation in the infectious disease department. More than 600 tundra workers and specialists from the risk group have been vaccinated, and the number of vaccinated deer is approaching 70,000.
Chum for a million
“For nine days now, we have not had a case in the herd. Ten days after vaccination, if there are no dead or sick animals, they can be slaughtered for food. But we won't, of course. Now we are going to the point where the helicopter will fly with new plagues, we will undergo sanitation there,” said Gulnara Rogaleva, a veterinarian at the Yarsalinskoye municipal reindeer herding enterprise. She roams the tundra with a herd of 2,600 heads of municipal and private deer.
All plagues and household items left in the infected area have been destroyed. New camps will be located in the “clean” zone. As of August 5, one has already been equipped, people are moving in there, the regional government said. For the period until the rest are ready, employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations will deploy eight tent camps in the Yamal region of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, they will temporarily relocate tundra dwellers from temporary accommodation points. Everything needed - 80 multi-person tents, bedding, three thousand one-day rations - was delivered to the region this week from Moscow and Yekaterinburg. In addition, the ministry doubled its presence in the region: the same number of rescuers from the Ural Regional Center of the Ministry of Emergency Situations was added to the three dozen employees of the Leader Center for Rescue Operations of Special Risk.
Meanwhile, the region allocated 90 million rubles to support the tundra dwellers who left their property in the emergency zone. As Viktor Yugay, director of the regional department of agro-industrial complex, trade and food, said yesterday, one hundred chums can be purchased and staffed with these funds.
“Lists and a list of necessary property have been formed, which we will acquire and distribute to people as quickly as possible, taking into account procedural issues related to procurement,” says Yugay. - According to our calculations, the cost of one summer set of plague (winter ones were in the "clean" zone), taking into account all the utensils and clothing, is approximately 900 thousand rubles. I think, for efficiency, all this will be purchased in the district. Now we are discussing the possibility of manufacturing at least some of the necessary items in the colonies of Kharpa and Labytnangi.
Quarantine has been introduced in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. For at least a month. The sale of fresh meat, fish, berries and mushrooms is prohibited. Reindeer herders, whose plagues were located in the zone of infection, lost their homes and earnings. To eliminate the consequences, troops of radiochemical and biological protection, rescuers of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and doctors from the federal center were abandoned on Yamal.
What is happening in the region, the central media report in passing, the information is given strictly dosed. And each story ends optimistically: “Everything is calm in Yamal. Animals are being vaccinated. The hotbeds of danger have been extinguished. The problem is practically solved."
How things really are in the region, what people on Yamal are concerned about and why the tragedy could not be avoided - in our material.
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“The anthrax bacteria in the air enters the lungs, and from there to the lymph nodes, which become inflamed. Anthrax symptoms: Initially, the patient has a high fever, chest pain, and weakness. After a few days, shortness of breath and a decrease in the level of oxygen in the blood appear. Once in the lungs, the causative agent of anthrax quickly spreads throughout the human body. Often there is a cough with blood, an x-ray can show the presence of pneumonia, the patient's body temperature often rises to 41 degrees. There is pulmonary edema and cardiovascular insufficiency, as a result, cerebral hemorrhage is possible.
“Deer died quickly, in a few hours”
Here is what representatives of the Yamal administration write on social networks: “There is no epidemic in Yamal. The quarantine was introduced locally, the borders of the district for the entry and exit of people are not closed. The sanitary and epidemiological state of the place of temporary stay of people taken out of the quarantine zone is under the supervision of sanitary doctors, in medical institutions - initially sensitive facilities - the level of security control, disinfection and access has been strengthened. The vast majority of nomads from the quarantine area are healthy, but they receive preventive treatment from Yamal doctors.”
According to the latest data, 90 people were hospitalized in Yamal with suspected dangerous infection. Twenty have been diagnosed with anthrax. Infected including three children, the youngest of whom is not even a year old. According to some reports, three people died - two of them children. All hospitalized are nomads who grazed deer 200 kilometers from the village of Yar-Sale. As a result of the mass death, 2,500 deer died. It was the animals that became carriers of the infection.
The entire Yamal tundra has now become a quarantine zone. 250 military and special equipment arrived here from Moscow and Yekaterinburg. It is necessary to vaccinate the surviving deer, decontaminate the territories and dispose of the carcasses of the dead deer. They will be burned. Only heat can kill anthrax.
Families of reindeer breeders were transported to nearby villages
Employees of the Investigative Committee are now investigating whether anthrax was detected in the region in time.
However, even good news does not calm the residents of the villages adjacent to the infected zone. People pack their things and move to Salekhard. Who has nowhere to run from a sinking ship, they clean the house with bleach every day and stock up on masks. Entertainment events in the region have been cancelled.
“Children walk around with swollen necks, but the authorities are silent about this”
The capital of the Yamal region, which was overtaken by trouble, is the village of Yar-Sale. The infection zone is located 200 km from the village.
A native of the village, Elena, is going to wait out the hot season in Salekhard with her relatives.
In the stores of Yar-Sale, we have a rolling ball - all the venison and semi-finished products of slaughter in 2015 were dismantled, - the woman says. - People understand that this year there will be no slaughter, so we will be left without meat. Berries and mushrooms were also banned from picking. Those who have already salted mushrooms for the winter and made jam are recommended to dispose of everything. All our garbage dumps are now filled with jars of compote and jam.
They banned the export of meat, deer skins and fish from our villages. They say on TV that the outbreak is localized, but this is not true. The death of deer is still observed in different places, for example, in Pangody, only they are silent about this.
The number of patients with anthrax, according to our data, is increasing every day. A 12-year-old child who died of an ulcer still seems to be unable to bury. After all, he cannot be buried according to the traditional customs of the Nenets, he must be cremated. But the parents are against it. As a result, the body was covered with bleach, the mortuary staff are waiting for the consent of the mother to be cremated.
Vaccinations are also not given to everyone. Only those who are in contact with the sick and help dispose of the carcasses of dead animals in the tundra are vaccinated.
But there has already been a rumor that from August 6, they will still begin to vaccinate all the inhabitants of the village. But the deer that did not have time to become infected, like all of them were vaccinated. Although it should have been done before. But the nomads waved their hand at these rules. For which they paid.
The plagues of all reindeer herders who were in the danger zone were burned. Personal belongings were disposed of. The women and children of the tundra workers were transported to safe areas. Those who categorically refused to leave their homes were provided with new plagues in a clean camp and were given antibiotics.
You understand, a deer for the Nenets is life. This is clothing - a malitsa, a frog, kitties, and food, and a means of transportation, and housing: they make plagues from deer skins. So in a few weeks these people lost everything, - adds the interlocutor. - Those nomads who did not have anthrax were isolated from society just in case. They were temporarily settled in boarding schools, under lock and key.
My friend works with infected nomads. She said that the tundra people take antibiotics. The dishes from which they eat are carefully treated with chlorine. 160 tablets of bleach are put into 10 liters of water. The employees of the institution do not take off their masks and gloves.
According to her, the nomads feel bad under normal conditions for us. Now they are fed with porridge, liquid soup, pasta. But they can not live without meat and fish! Their body does not perceive other food, except for venison. I heard that some people turn out from such food.
And they try not to let them out on the street. But some still come out somehow. Their children are walking. Many of my neighbors have already begun to quit their jobs and leave for big cities so as not to endanger themselves. Most of the villagers take their children away from here, to relatives.
Among the dead tundra dwellers are a grandmother and a grandson. “Two members of the family of reindeer herders died from an ulcer, a 75-year-old grandmother and a 12-year-old grandson. The boy, when he was still alive, said that he drank blood and ate fresh deer meat,” the village administration officials said. The villagers do not know the details of the life of this family. They say that the nomads did not communicate with them much. Yes, and they visited the village once every six months, stocked up on wholesale products to last for 5-6 months, and left back.
I heard that the case continues in the area of the Yuribey bend and in the area of \u200b\u200bthe Lata Mareto River, - the woman continues. - The locals say that the children go there with swollen necks, the dogs are all swollen too. Swollen necks are swollen lymph nodes - one of the symptoms of anthrax. But for some reason they keep silent about it.
But Elena's neighbor, Nadezhda, is more optimistic.
I trust the local media. If they say that the situation has stabilized, the deer have been vaccinated, they have been moved to a safe place, then it is true. All patients are in the Salekhard hospital. My friend said that there are 48 people in the infectious diseases department with suspected ulcers. The hospital is on duty around the clock. Entrance is by pass only, so we have nothing to fear in the village.
Healthy reindeer herders were brought to us, who need somewhere to turn over until their dwellings are restored. The people left without plague and livestock settled in our first-aid post, there are about 60 of them there. I understand that officials will do everything possible to prevent a scandal.
All plagues of nomads that were in the infected zone were disposed of
In fact, anthrax came to the region not on July 16, as all the media are trumpeting, but much earlier. The tundra dwellers themselves told us that the first deer fell on July 5th. The reindeer herders then called the district administration, but they ignored their calls. Then the nomads had to turn to the district center. It just happened on July 17th. By that time, the death rate was about 1000 deer.
“The reindeer breeder walked for four days to report the trouble”
Men in Yar-Sale are philosophical about what is happening: come what may.
Alexander from the village of Yar-Sale told how he sees the situation.
I'm not really worried about not eating meat next year. Considering that there were 700,000 deer in the area, about two thousand died, I think this problem should not arise. But to whom will the tundra people sell this venison? It is unlikely that there will be those who want to try it.
Also in the area it was forbidden to sell deer antlers, which people bought as a piece of furniture. The export of this product is also strictly prohibited. Employees of housing and communal services management companies daily wash the entrances of houses with bleach. I think I'll work on my housing on the weekend, just in case.
All cafes in the village were closed, the restaurant is still open, but they say it won't last long. Discos and mass celebrations have been cancelled. There is no public transport in the village, so there is nothing to cancel. Buses are still allowed in Salekhard. But passengers are carefully checked - you can not export and import meat, fish, berries, mushrooms.
Could the tragedy have been avoided? And is it the fault of the authorities that anthrax came to Yamal? Nikolai from Salekhard, who regularly travels around the reindeer herding villages, told us a story that the media preferred to keep silent about.
When a slight loss of livestock began, the tundra people decided that the deer had become sick from the heat. This July, the weather was atypical for our region - it reached 38 degrees.
Here is a message that spread through social networks from nomads (a screenshot has been saved): “Near Lake Yaroto in the camp of 12 chums, 1,500 deer heads died, dogs died. Everywhere stench, decay, stench. The children had boils. People are not taken out, the authorities do not provide any assistance, while they are silent about it. The authorities became aware of our trouble a week ago, but they do nothing. Soon people will start dying in the tundra. Please help post. Save people."
The message went unheeded.
But now representatives of the administration of the Yamal region claim that the author of the message is an ordinary troll.
It's all the fault of ordinary negligence, - continues Nikolai. - Reindeer breeders have been looking for the head of the Yamal region for a long time. But in the administration they were told that he was in the tundra with reindeer herders. But none of the representatives of the administration were seen there. District officials arrived only a couple of weeks later, when the loss of livestock had already become massive, there were more than 1,000 heads.
Those who were there say that the picture looked like a horror movie about zombies. The whole camp is littered with the corpses of animals. Deer died quickly, in a few hours. They just fell and continued to barely breathe for some time. People were walking around, many were already sick by that time, they could hardly move, they were shivering. It was then that local officials realized that the matter was getting serious, but tried to correct the situation on their own. Did not work out. And our governor asked for help from higher authorities.
And only then did help come. All structures were connected: the Ministry of Emergency Situations, Rospotrebnadzor, the Ministry of Health, veterinarians from nearby regions were sent to the place.
Judging by the word of mouth, it is still far from complete elimination, - continues Nikolai. - In those places, water in lakes and streams is contaminated, people are afraid that groundwater will flow into the Ob and there is a possibility of contamination of large water and its fauna. But, as scientists on the spot say, this cannot be.
The authorities also report that, allegedly, since July 22, a general practitioner has been with people at the camp. There was no doctor there, to my knowledge. Air ambulances only arrived on the 23rd. And the doctor was brought on July 24 to the camp. During all this time, birds of prey and animals pecked at the corpses. Okay, the deer fell, in ten years he will restore his herd. But the fact that the number of people infected there can exceed a hundred is scary.
- No one will buy venison now, right?
Even many locals say they won't eat venison for at least a couple of years. But there is a risk that some poachers, not knowing about the ulcer, butchered dead carcasses, cut down antlers, skinned and managed to take out a certain amount. Now the local authorities are looking for everyone who did this in order to destroy what they managed to take out.
- Is deer meat expensive?
It costs from 180 rubles. up to 280 rubles for 1 kg. Reindeer breeders sell for 180 rubles, state farm - for 250-280.
The entire Yamal tundra has now become a quarantine zone
The words of my interlocutor were partly confirmed by the Minister of Health Veronika Skvortsova, who urgently arrived in the region. She said that the infected area may be wider than previously reported: “It all started from one outbreak, very small. But then, for a certain time, new foci were revealed, there are several of them today.”
Infectionists admitted: the bacteria were spread by deer and animals that ate the corpses of those who died from the disease, as well as by birds and insects. The radius of infection can be up to hundreds of kilometers from the source. However, experts say that the animals could not have gone far.
“After I visited the infected zone, they burned all my personal belongings and money”
The representative of the administration of the Yamal region Ravil Safarbekov, as he can, reassures the people in social networks. Here are some of his posts.
“Now everyone is working hard: doctors, veterinarians, scientists, the government of Yamal, the district administration, public organizations, volunteers, etc. Many do not sleep for days, eat on the go.
Institutes and laboratories of Russia joined in solving the problem. The situation is constantly changing, new data comes. In order to prevent the spread of infection, the quarantine zone has been increased, which means that it is necessary to relocate even more families of reindeer herders to clean places. Epidemiologists forbid the movement of personal belongings - which means that every family needs new plagues, 100% equipped.
New personal belongings, new sleds, new clothes - none of the reserve fund of the district, which was empty in a couple of days, could handle this. Please help!"
“The governor confirmed that all the largest fuel and energy companies have joined the work - they are providing equipment, helicopters, specialists, large sums of money to buy the necessary things and means of assistance.”
“The tundra workers who are in the boarding school are conditionally healthy, however, reinsurance is underway.”
“I myself was in the infected zone. After the visit, they burned all my personal belongings, money. He barely begged me not to touch the equipment, camera, cell phone, which was in my backpack until the end of the flight. They were treated with chlorine and other liquids and given away. Personally passed thermometry, washing, getting new things. Not a single person who has been in the zone of infection will be allowed through.”
Ravil Safarbekov also explained the reason for the incident.
“I'm not an expert, but scientists say the wild heat thawed the canker spores. When I flew between the hearths, I saw Nenets cemeteries (the Nenets, by tradition, put the coffin on the surface of the earth, they don’t bury it). So there is an assumption that the burials thawed out under the monthly heat. There is also a version that the places where deer died from an ulcer in the Middle Ages thawed out. Then there were few people and deer, and they left the dead places, leaving the corpses in place. There was nowhere to go. The heat gave the bacillus carte blanche: it settled in deer, killed and, perhaps, through the soil or meat moved into people.
Rescuers in Yamal have been vaccinated in advance and work in special protective clothing
Meanwhile, the deputy head of the Rosselkhoznadzor criticized the actions of the Yamal authorities to prevent an anthrax outbreak. Nikolay Vlasov stated that reindeer herders did not have the opportunity to report the case, and veterinarians learned about the anthrax epizootic that had begun five weeks after it began. Vlasov also pointed out that the largest outbreak poses a huge danger to future generations, because it will not be possible to dispose of deer carcasses in time.
What happened in Yamal is an unprecedented event. And the main mistake of the authorities is the lack of universal vaccination of deer.
In 2007, deer vaccination against anthrax was canceled in the Yamal tundra. The veterinary service of the Yamal region said: this was due to the fact that the virus is simply not able to survive in the conditions of the northern climate. The safety of animals was confirmed then by scientists from Moscow ...
MEANWHILE
On August 2, the authorities of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug banned the export of meat, antlers and skins of deer from the area where the anthrax outbreak occurred. The regional government clarified that there is no deer slaughter at this time of the year in Yamal. And all residents of the region are urged not to buy meat at spontaneous sales points. So far, more than 2,300 animals have died from the ulcer virus, and the area itself has been quarantined.
In the meantime, in one of the capital's venison stores, we were told that, regardless of the situation in the district, all game sold for sale undergoes a veterinary examination twice. The first time - still at the place of slaughter.
In addition, the batch that comes to us is being tested at the veterinary station to which we are attached, the store explained. - There the meat is checked for all possible viruses. Or we can receive venison that has already undergone heat treatment, which means that it is disinfected. But in any case, the last time we were supplied with meat was in the fall. And after the epidemic, there was no import, and we don’t know when it will be.
