The report of an anthrax outbreak and evacuation in Russia in the Yamalo-Nenets autonomous region of northern Russia where 1200 reindeer "suddenly" died is not typical of a few reindeer being exposed to an unearthed diseased animal, the Russian's stated diagnosis. The last time there was an outbreak in what is now Russia, and a swath of sheep "suddenly" died, with a few dozen humans; the USSR claimed it was caused by contaminated meat that was purchased on the black market. Thirty years later, the true reason came to light, that the source of the anthrax infection was actually a leak from a bioweapons plant in Sverdlovsk. If you try to do a Google search today for Sverdlovsk, you probably will not find very much about the city -- they changed the name of the city after the incident.
The reported evacuation of 63 nomadic families in the region and emergency evacuation of two children, is not an infection from contaminated reindeer, but suggests inhalation anthrax, a highly uncommon infection unless spores are aerated and present in a high enough concentration to cause infection -- also inconsistent with a claim that an infected animal was unearthed by a few reindeer.
Let's hope we don't have to wait 30 years this time to find out the reason for an anthrax outbreak that covers a land mass the size of Turkey.
The reported evacuation of 63 nomadic families in the region and emergency evacuation of two children, is not an infection from contaminated reindeer, but suggests inhalation anthrax, a highly uncommon infection unless spores are aerated and present in a high enough concentration to cause infection -- also inconsistent with a claim that an infected animal was unearthed by a few reindeer.
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Reportedly, the last anthrax outbreak in the region was 1941. Let's hope we don't have to wait 30 years this time to find out the reason for an anthrax outbreak that covers a land mass the size of Turkey.
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