12:06 — REGNUM Yamal tundra dwellers who lost property during sanitation against anthrax will be allocated 90 million rubles from the district budget, the correspondent was told IA REGNUM in the press service of the regional governor.

These funds will be used to equip about 100 new tents for families of reindeer herders. Until the resettlement, all tundra dwellers will continue to remain in Yar-Sale under the supervision of doctors to undergo antibiotic therapy. All residents from the quarantine zone, namely 211 people, will be vaccinated. The deer population from the quarantine zone is fully vaccinated. Veterinarians report that the death of deer has 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 were experiencing an abnormally high temperature, and mortality began. By the weekend, the most difficult situation had developed in the herds of private reindeer herders near the Tarko-Sale trading post 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 death - anthrax spores. From July 25 in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, by order of the governor Dmitry Kobylkin Quarantine has been introduced in the Yamal region. At first, experts assured that there was no threat to people, the tundra people were examined and no anthrax patients were found among them. Since July 22, a general practitioner has been with the reindeer herders to monitor their health. However, yesterday, August 1, it became known that a 12-year-old child had died from anthrax. “As of 5:00 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, probable cause infection of deer became exposed due to the heat, the site of the long-ago death of a sick animal. 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 deer, in search of food, stumbled upon the site of an animal that died from anthrax and then infected each other. Experts believe that the reason for the reindeer infection was an unusually warm summer for the Far North. The thawed tundra and deer weakened by heat and contact helped spread the deadly infection.

A ban has now been introduced on the export of any meat, antlers, or skins from the Yamal region. Veterinary control and inspection have been strengthened at all airports, train stations, river ports and all transport hubs Autonomous Okrug. There is no slaughter of deer at this time of year in Yamal, so residents and guests of the region are urged not to buy deer meat at spontaneous markets. District residents are also advised not to collect wild plants and mushrooms.

At the site of the anthrax outbreak, work is underway to eliminate dead animals. More than 200 liquidators are equipped with special equipment, their own laboratory, and special means to eliminate infection and disinfect the area. As the correspondent was told IA REGNUM in the regional Rospotrebnadzor, complete deratization covered all subject objects and housing stock in the village of Yar-Sale. 23 thousand 069 square meters have already been processed. m. Disinfection measures are carried out at the airports of Salekhard and Yar-Sale. Disinfection points for helicopters and sanitary areas have been deployed. More than 200 water studies have been conducted.

At the railway station named after. Vladimir Naka ( railway Obskaya - Bovanenkovo) a military camp has been deployed. Highly qualified employees of the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Emergency Situations, Rospotrebnadzor, and the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation have already been sent to support colleagues of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug.

Residents of Yamal are urged not to give in to provocateurs inciting panic. There is no epidemic in Yamal. Quarantine was introduced locally, and the district borders are not closed to the entry and exit of people.

Today, August 2, the Minister of Health of the Russian Federation Veronica Skvortsova flew to Salekhard, where she will hold a meeting on organizing medical care and anti-epidemic measures in connection with the anthrax outbreak in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. The minister will also visit the district hospital and examine the sick and personally check the organization of assistance directly at the outbreak of the disease, the Ministry of Health reports.

Let us 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 Rosselkhoznadzor, sporadic cases of anthrax disease in animals are recorded annually in Russia: two to three points unfavorable for the disease and from two to seven sick animals. From 2009 to 2014, 40 human cases of anthrax were reported in Russia, which was 43% higher than the number of cases in the previous five years. Anthrax was found in three federal districts Russia: North Caucasus - 20 cases, South - 9 cases and Siberian - 11 cases.

MOSCOW, August 3 – RIA Novosti, Larisa Zhukova. An anthrax outbreak hit the Yamalo-Nenets District for the first time in 75 years. Recently it became known about the death of a 12-year-old child. Ulcers were 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, the media and authorities did not report what happened for about a week: “We learned all the information primarily from social networks from relatives of doctors and rescuers of the Ministry of Emergency Situations,” said Salekhard resident Galina (name changed).

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

Told by local resident Ivan (name changed).

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

According to her, all the infected are nomadic reindeer herders who were at the epicenter of the infection 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, to establish accurate diagnosis, it takes up to thirty days: today is only the eighth day.

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

Why is the disease dangerous?

"Anthrax is quite contagious and causes large number deaths,” said Vladislav Zhemchugov, Doctor of Medical Sciences, a specialist in especially dangerous infections. - The spores of the pathogen are stored in the soil for centuries. The infection, which 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 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 present in the United States when envelopes with spores were sent out - this is the most severe form of infection. Almost one hundred percent fatal outcome without urgent medical intervention: People faint and die within hours of infection.

“It is easier to cure the skin form, because lymph nodes stand in the way of bacteria: they delay the development of the disease. A sign of infection are carbuncles - ulcers with a black top. The intestinal form of anthrax causes high fever, pain in the intestines and diarrhea. The period from infection to fatal outcome could be several hours or days,” said Vladislav Zhemchugov.

Most often, infection occurs when eating or cutting the meat of a sick animal. This is a real concern for the Nenets, since the main source of meat for many is venison: “We usually buy one or two carcasses for the season,” said local resident Ivan (not his real name). “Now we will not only not be able to buy meat, but we will also 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 from anthrax not only ate contaminated deer meat, but also drank its blood. "This is traditional food. northern peoples, which live in the tundra and lack food diversity. Fresh blood gives them energy,” said Andrei Podluzhnov, veterinarian and red deer breeder.

According to him, nomads meet civilization twice a year, when they come to sell deer for meat, and do not trust “people with big land". That is why many reindeer herders hide their livestock from recounting, vaccination and slaughter. Despite the fact that, according to the governor’s press service Yamalo-Nenets District, they managed to vaccinate 35 thousand deer, the nomads continue to hide the animals as much as possible and lead them away from meeting with rescuers and the military:

“For the peoples of the north, the deer is practically a totem animal. The entire life of a reindeer herder is centered around it. For a nomad, losing a deer means losing everything. This is their bread, home, transport. Reindeer herders do not know how to do anything else. The livestock can be reduced greatly: by about three quarters And it will be 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 that is the source of infection. Despite this, experts note that the likelihood of such an infection is extremely low. In the quarantine zone, doctors recommend drinking bottled water or underground sources. Yamal authorities also warned local residents that picking berries and mushrooms in the forest is now extremely dangerous.

As for other regions of Russia, the most likely carrier of the infection could be birds. But those birds that are now on nesting grounds in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug will fly to wintering grounds in Southeast Asia, India and Australia, doctor told RIA Novosti biological sciences, professor at Moscow State University named after M.V. Lomonosova Irina Boehme. According to her, the only precedent when birds hypothetically became carriers of the virus was during an epidemic bird flu, but this fact could not be proven one hundred percent.

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 where anthrax appeared had a confirmed diagnosis, and in total there are just over 200 people in quarantine. About what happened in Yamal and what anthrax is for modern man, epidemiologists told MedNews.

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, the sick boy from the outbreak dangerous infection was sent to the Salekhard district hospital. He was sick intestinal form anthrax, which is difficult to diagnose.

Another eight residents of Yamal who found themselves in the anthrax zone had a confirmed diagnosis. All of them are receiving 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. 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, from which the infection was transmitted to people. Now, thanks to the prompt vaccination of healthy reindeer in the tundra and the treatment of sick ones, the death of animals has practically stopped.

Epidemiological experts told MedNews about what happened in Yamal and what anthrax is for modern people.

Elena Volchkova: “It’s impossible to get anthrax in your kitchen”

Elena Volchkova, Head of the Department of Infectious Diseases, State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Professional Education, First Moscow State Medical University named after. THEM. Sechenov. Photo: Azj.rus4all.ru

As the manager explained. Department of Infectious Diseases First Moscow State Medical University them. Sechenova, Professor Elena Volchkova, since anthrax is a natural focal disease, it cannot be completely eradicated. The bacteria themselves Basillaceae quickly die under the influence of factors environment, but spores are very resistant to these factors and can survive for decades in the soil and for years in water. And if the natural reservoirs for the accumulation of anthrax spores are disrupted, then both animals and humans can become infected with this infection. Now in Yamal, as a result of abnormal heat, natural centers have opened up and, possibly, old burial places have come to the surface. And the deer that ate the reindeer moss growing there became ill.

Most often, large horned animals are the first to get sick. livestock, anthrax is transmitted to humans mainly by contact. You can become infected when slaughtering and cutting up a sick animal, during processing or any other contact with its skin. The hands that come into contact with the infection are the ones that suffer first. However, any wound on the skin, including the legs, can become an entry point for infection. That is why you should not once again walk barefoot through unknown meadows and fields, in the soil of which the source of a natural focal disease can accumulate and multiply. In general, you should always try to protect your skin whenever you are in nature, because there are many other dangers - from ticks to blood-sucking insects that carry many infections.

What happens when infected and is anthrax treated?

When infected with anthrax, redness of the skin initially appears, then a blister forms at the site of the spot, which bursts and appears ulcerative lesion. In about a week skin lesion takes the form of a carbuncle. And all this against the background of a temperature reaction, general malaise, and weakness.

This is the so-called cutaneous form diseases. Theoretically, it can be confused with another skin disease. But, since isolated cases of the disease are very rare, and outbreaks of infection among people immediately follow outbreaks among animals, correct diagnosis installs quite quickly. Cutaneous anthrax is highly treatable modern antibiotics, especially with timely hospitalization. In addition, detoxification of the patient’s body is carried out, immunoglobulins are used, general therapy. If untreated, the mortality rate is 10-20%.

Particularly dangerous is the so-called generalized form infection that occurs as a result of exposure to human body with contaminated meat, or by airborne droplets(during the same processing of skins and wool). A generalized form, in which the entire body suffers, can also develop in the skin form of the disease, if the infection enters the blood. But, as a rule, cutaneous forms begin to treat quickly, and the possibility of their generalization is unlikely. But the initially generalized forms are really very severe and their mortality rate, especially without treatment, can reach 90-95%.

Dangers to residents middle zone Russia and Siberia do not exist today. Maps of cattle 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 and intensive private construction. Theoretically, in addition to cattle burial grounds, former farmland or areas where large numbers of animals grazed can pose a danger. It is impossible to get anthrax in your kitchen. The main thing is to never buy untested meat from unknown retail outlets, along roads, that is, anywhere where there is no sanitary supervision. Unfortunately, there are many unscrupulous livestock owners who, if an animal gets sick, quickly slaughter it and drag it off for sale.

Mikhail Shchelkanov: “The monitoring system for cattle burial grounds should work like clockwork”

Mikhail Shchelkanov, head of the laboratory virological research FBUZ "Center for Hygiene and Epidemiology in the Primorsky Territory." Photo: Ok.ru

According to Mikhail Shchelkanov, professor at the Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU), head of the virological research laboratory at the Center for Hygiene and Epidemiology in the Primorsky Territory, the emergency in Yamal was provoked by 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 over 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. As temperatures rise, 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 flown into the tundra by helicopters, but there was no need to take any measures on a national scale. It would be 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 to be such a natural quarantine.

It is impossible to say when and where the ill-fated burial ground was created - 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 for cattle burial grounds should work like a clock. And if in some regions there seems to be a situation of epizootic freedom for some infections (that is, there is no threat of the spread of this or that infection among animals) - this is not a 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 humans) natural foci of this disease. Same as northern territories countries. Large herds of animals graze here. And if, God forbid, a death occurs, gigantic burial grounds appear that must be strictly controlled. But there is no one especially to do this. And in general, it’s like with the disposal of radioactive waste - no matter how reliable security you put in place, sooner or later a leak will happen.

Therefore, it is better not to arrange burials, but to debug a system for burning the carcasses of dead animals. Veterinarians have such capacity, they are simply not enough in the event of a mass death. This means that mobile combustion plants are needed and targeted investments in this are not so large funds. And there are still problems for many years We'll have enough with the old burial grounds.

“Literally in May, we had a conference at FEFU, at which one of my students - a guy from Uzbekistan - gave a report on this topic,” said Shchelkanov. - I thought that this was very important, since there are a lot of forgotten burial grounds in Central Asia. But I didn’t imagine that in the North we also have burial grounds that we don’t know everything about. And one of them worked.”

The other day, FANO published the final version of the causes of the recent anthrax outbreak in Yamal. Report prepared by the All-Russian Scientific research institute veterinary virology and microbiology of the Russian Agricultural Academy and the Veterinary Service of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, raised new questions. The first of which: why among the authors there are no representatives of the Stavropol Anti-Plague Institute, the head Russian organization, which studies anthrax? And who, as we know, took soil samples in the Yamal region. In the institution itself, as Novaya Gazeta has already reported, they refuse to talk to journalists about the epidemic in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, citing some kind of ban.

One of the co-authors of the FANO report, chief researcher of the laboratory of virology and microbiology of the All-Russian Research Institute of Veterinary Virology, Yuri Selyaninov, explained to Novaya Gazeta that the Stavropol institute actually took soil and water samples in Yamal, and also worked with infected reindeer herders, but this institution operates autonomously and does not prepare joint analytics with departments of Rosselkhoznadzor. The interaction between them, according to Selyaninov, is “lame.”

What did the All-Russia Research Institute of Veterinary Virology establish? Upon first reading, it is striking: after such a report, it will be easier for the Investigative Committee, which is conducting an investigation into the outbreak of the ulcer, to refuse to initiate criminal proceedings against officials (present and former) of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. A red thread runs from page to page: there is a natural phenomenon that, as they say, cannot be argued with. Egyptian execution. Or, as the report coquettishly puts it, “surprise.”

This convenient explanation is based on a version that coincides with the assumption of Greenpeace, expressed by activists immediately after the outbreak of the disease: “It was established that the reason contributing to the emergence of anthrax was the activation of “old” soil foci due to abnormally high air temperatures and thawing of the soil to a depth exceeding normal indicator." Climate change is an important topic for Greenpeace, and it is understandable that this option was proposed in the first place. But he's not the only one. By the way, Alexey Vango, an old resident of the Yamal region who contacted Novaya Gazeta, assures: the summer of 2015 was even hotter than this year, and high temperatures held on more long time, the soil warmed up deeply, but no epidemic occurred. There have been abnormal heat waves before - and also without an epidemic.

The enthusiasm with which officials from the concerned departments seized on the version suggested by the environmentalists they disliked surprised the “greens” themselves. Vladimir Chuprov, head of the Greenpeace energy program, admits that at some point this became alarming. Vladimir went to the scene to check the second version - about the impact of oil and gas developments on the epizootic in the area: well, how did they “drill” something wrong. However, contrary to expectations, the authors of the saving idea about the influence of climate on morbidity were not greeted with open arms. On the contrary: according to Chuprov, environmentalists felt throughout their stay in the regional center of Yar-Sale increased attention intelligence services: people with whom they were planning meetings received calls with threats and warnings, and in conclusion, Chuprov bought a helicopter ticket to the New Port, where Gazprom field development, — on the day of departure it turned out to be canceled. Airport staff referred to " technical error" “The authorities and oil companies have something to hide,” Chuprov concludes.

In response to a statement published on the Greenpeace website about opposition from local authorities environmental monitoring Yarsalin officials erupted in an angry response. URA. RU quotes an unnamed “representative of the district administration” (probably a press secretary), who did not refute Chuprov’s words, but called the actions of environmentalists a provocation: “Then the runny nose that arises will be attributed to anthrax infection and they will say that it is necessary to send in international troops.” He also stated that in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug there are no cattle burial grounds, but only pestilence fields.

Chemical scientist Lev Fedorov called burning deer corpses “nonsense” - anthrax spores do not burn

The official is disingenuous: pestilent fields are really not cattle burial grounds, they are worse - they are territories contaminated with anthrax spores. The FANO report also refers to them as “burial sites for animals killed by anthrax.” There are 59 of them in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, including 10 in the Yamal region. According to the sanitary and epidemiological rules SP 3.1.7.2629-10 “Prevention of Anthrax,” the so-called “old animal burials” are equated to cattle burial grounds and, like them, must be fenced and equipped with warning signs. Access to people and animals should be prohibited. Responsibility is on executive branch subject of the Federation.

Yuri Selyaninov says that this is not practiced: the boundaries of pestilence zones are blurred, and, by and large, disputes can be distributed everywhere in Yamal. In this situation, there is only one guarantee against the epidemic - total vaccination. However, the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug is the only subject in the country where it has been completely abolished - since 2007. And this is with a herd size of 733 thousand heads, despite the fact that reindeer husbandry is the basis of the economy of the indigenous population and the only hope of the Nenets to survive. Those who remember are still alive terrible epidemic 1941.

Yuri Selyaninov cautiously says that the results of vaccination carried out before 2007 could be “mistaken for epizootic welfare” and therefore canceled.

Whatever the route of infection for deer this summer, the official who canceled the vaccination should go to court. But here FANO makes an elegant move that allows, if desired, to turn a criminal decision into a scientifically based one. Here is the full quote: “According to a number of scientists, the prolonged absence of anthrax outbreaks in Yamal was not only the result annual vaccination, but also a consequence of self-sanitation of the soil and soil foci, caused by the gradual death of anthrax spores. The peculiarities of the soil and climatic conditions of the North are such that the main physical and chemical properties tundra soil (high acidity, low content humus, microelements) are extremely unfavorable for the life of b. anthracis (the causative agent of anthrax. — T.B.)».

What “self-sanation” is is difficult to understand. The author of this " scientific discovery“is known - this is not “a number of scientists”, but the Soviet biologist Benyamin Cherkassky. (However, at the end of the report the theory of self-sanation was still recognized as untenable.)

Lev Fedorov, chemist, expert in the field biological weapons and the head of the Union “For Chemical Safety,” in correspondence with Novaya Gazeta, called the point about “self-sanitization” of soil “scientific nonsense.” He also recalled that in the USSR there was a secret official list of anthrax burial sites in the country. “There were 50,000 of them in the USSR, including 35,000 in Russia,” writes Lev Alexandrovich.  “And the citizens of the country had no right to know about them. It seems that the current heads of territories (veterinarians, sanitary doctors, etc.) have not understood that we live in different times.”

There is, however, a reference in the report to a more prosaic reason for the cancellation of vaccination in Yamal: it “requires large economic costs.” By the way, not only environmental activists, but also Rosselkhoznadzor are not inclined to justify the Yamal authorities. In a recent interview, deputy head of the department Nikolai Vlasov identified the only reason for the outbreak as an error in planning epizootic measures in the region. He also emphasized: in permafrost, anthrax spores are preserved for centuries. So the “self-sanation” was clearly in a hurry.

Vlasov criticized the organization of veterinary care in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, calling the service disproportionately small, without a laboratory base or transport. And if the decision to cancel vaccination was made in 2007, under the previous governor, then this is already a stone in the garden of the current government. Which is trying its best to disown the causes of the pestilence in the tundra and its consequences.

However, the consequences may appear a year later, when the snow melts (it will fall in a week or a week and a half). Lev Fedorov says that he was surprised by the burning of animal corpses, which he saw on video footage: “This is nonsense, and this is an indicator of the illiteracy and irresponsibility of visitors and local “specialists,” says the scientist.  — Anthrax spores do not burn. This was known back in old Russia, otherwise, where would the cattle burial grounds come from? There are no plague or cholera burial grounds—only anthrax ones.”

To be fair, let’s say: the burial of the corpses of animals killed by Siberian gas is carried out by modern regulatory documents prohibited, so de jure everything is legal. Another question: how effectively was the disposal carried out? And there are different opinions on this matter. Yuri Selyaninov said that only the military were involved in it; he himself did not observe the process and doubts that any of his colleagues did.

In addition to the causes of the outbreak and the elimination methods used in Yamal, a significant issue is the speed of response.

Nikolai Vlasov confirmed the story published by Novaya Gazeta about how a reindeer herder spent several days looking for contact in the nearest camps in order to inform the mainland about the disease. Yamal authorities previously denied this. In addition, the deputy head of Rosselkhoznadzor said that the disease was not immediately diagnosed, since “no one carried out the diagnosis properly.” And he added that the heat (as the reindeer herders were initially told) does not kill the reindeer at all, but the “Siberian” with sunstroke don't get confused.

However, in the FANO report, the actions of veterinarians who confused the infection with hyperthermia are justified by the fact that allegedly not all signs of the disease were present, and the air temperature in the tundra exceeded 30 °C.

This indirectly justifies the criminal delay of the authorities who received reports of the death of deer. However, further in the document, figures are given that demolish all excuses: when collecting biomaterial with suspected anthrax, “a preliminary positive answer can be obtained in 1-3 hours. The results of this stage of research may be the basis for the adoption of restrictive measures.”

Let us remind you: the first deer died from anthrax on July 7th. Veterinarians arrived in the tundra only on the 16th. And the evacuation of people began on July 25.

Another nuance: some of the samples selected for confirmation were taken with violations of the methodology and simply rotted during delivery to the testing center of the All-Russian Research Institute of the Russian Agricultural Academy.

All this time, the reindeer herders tried to shout to the authorities. They are still trying. But the reaction to this is surprising to say the least. Thus, one of the heroes of the publication “ Novaya Gazeta“After the publication of the material... he was detained in Yar-Sale right outside the hotel, where he was supposed to meet with Greenpeace activists. The man was kept in police custody for about 3 hours and, according to our information, he was taken for examination by a narcologist, after which he was released. That same night we called the duty station, where they confirmed the incident and told us that the detainee had “already been released.” It is all the more surprising that the head of the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Irina Pimkina, told a Novaya correspondent a few days later that there was no detention at all, since there were no grounds for it. And then she clarified: they were taken to the duty station to establish their identity: they say, this is a normal procedure for the quarantine zone. For a more detailed comment, Irina Aleksandrovna advised us to contact... the governor’s press service.

They were surprised to learn that they were authorized to comment on the actions of the police—federal services.

- Nonsense!  — Nadezhda Noskova, head of the press service of the head of the region, succinctly commented on the situation.

There is reason to believe that the detention was illegal and with the sole purpose of intimidating the person. According to some reports, his phone is now being tapped, putting pressure not only on the hero of our publication, but also on his loved ones. There is only one requirement: to remain silent.

The editors thank the reindeer herders for the photographs provided

For the first time in 75 years. More than a thousand reindeer died. A vast area of ​​tundra is under quarantine. Families of reindeer herders and their herds are being evacuated from there. Women and children have already been taken to hospitals and are being examined. Doctors will monitor their condition.

The Yamal tundra is now a quarantine zone. Local residents were not happy about the news of the urgent evacuation. Hastily packing things and dismantling the plagues - forced fatal disease. Tundra has become More than 1,200 deer have already been killed. This is the first time this has happened here in 75 years.

To assess the scale of the disaster, experts are examining the epicenter of the outbreak from the air. Massive deaths of livestock were recorded in several camps at once. The cause of it all was anthrax. This has already been confirmed by experts.

“In our country, this disease has been encountered for a long time. And now we have registered more than thirty-five thousand anthrax burial sites according to the cadastre. That is, these are the places where anthrax spores are found in the soil,” notes Yulia Demina, deputy head of the epidemiological department supervision of Rospotrebnadzor.

Perhaps the deer, in search of food, stumbled upon the remains of a long-dead animal. The infection spread quite quickly. “We are making a large cattle burial ground, when the equipment comes up, sprinkle it with bleach, fence it off and mark a point in the navigator, and here it will be generally impossible to graze animals for 25 years according to the instructions,” says Vyacheslav Khritin, head of the Salekhard Veterinary Center.

In the near future, specialists will begin to destroy the corpses of infected deer. Doing this in the tundra is quite problematic. “A large amount of fuel is required - about 100 tons. It’s not easy to deliver, but we have found options. We will deliver in barrels by land and air,” complains Dmitry Kobylkin, governor of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug.

To save healthy animals, additional vaccination is carried out. . Doctors are on duty in the quarantine zone around the clock. No infection among people has yet been identified. Today, women and children were sent from the camps on a special plane - they were taken to the Yar-Sala hospital. Here they undergo an examination; Moscow experts will make a conclusion based on the analysis. “The baby feels fine, when we arrived by helicopter her temperature rose. Now she seems to feel normal, the temperature has dropped,” says Irina Salinder, a doctor, about her little patient.

The governor of Yamal also went to visit patients from the risk zone today. All necessary support the victims will be provided the best specialists. A batch of anthrax vaccine is already being prepared for shipment to Yamal - more than thousands of doses of the drug. Despite the fact that about 60 people were at risk, residents of neighboring camps will also be vaccinated.

“This pathogen, it can be in the form of a spore, it can lie in the ground for centuries, nothing will happen to it, it can wait for its moment, this form of spore. Therefore, they appear from cattle burial grounds since the time of Ivan the Terrible, these maps are already lost, and the cattle burial grounds remain. Therefore, well, periodically people get infected like this,” explains Vladimir Nikiforov, chief infectious disease specialist at the Federal Medical and Biological Agency of the Russian Federation.

Moreover, infection is possible only from sick animals. Anthrax is not transmitted from person to person. And the disease, according to experts, is quite typical for Russia, outbreaks occur every year. For animals it all ends in death, for humans it ends in therapy. Gone Soviet years when the infection was more difficult to defeat. Most often it manifests itself in the form painless ulcers on the skin and is treated with antibiotics. It is important not to damage the ulcer itself. Otherwise, a generalized form may occur, which is much more difficult to treat. In severe cases, everything ends in death.