Russia: Anthrax outbreak kills 1, infects 20

Local authorities say the outbreak has been contained and will not spread to larger areas. 

A child has died and 20 other have fallen ill in the first anthrax outbreak Russia has experienced in 75 years.

The outbreak was traced to a remote province in Siberia, the local regional governor’s office announced on Tuesday.

The victim was said to be 12-year-old nomad, and 20 more people have been diagnosed as infected with the bacterial disease.

Hundreds of nomadic reindeer herders have been evacuated from the area and taken to the regional capital, Salekhard, for treatment, and 90 of them have been hospitalized.

More than 2,300 reindeer have died in the outbreak. All other reindeer in the area have now been vaccinated and the deaths have stopped.

“There is no epidemic in Yamal,” regional governor Dmitry Kobylkin said, in an attempt to dispel fears that the outbreak could spread to a wider area. “Only a small area was quarantined. The overwhelming majority of the nomads from the quarantined territory are healthy, but Yamal doctors provide them with preventive treatment.”

By: World Israel News Staff
AP contributed to this report.