Potentially dangerous. What threatens anthrax burial grounds? Anthrax in Yamal: Deer could not tell that they were already sick. Anthrax outbreak in Yamal: warming has awakened the bacterium
Image copyright RIA Novosti Image caption Anthrax kills 2,300 deer in region
After the first outbreak of anthrax in the last 75 years, the authorities of the Yamalo-Nenets autonomous region a lot of work will have to be done to identify old cattle burial grounds and restrict access to them, the deputy director for scientific work Central Research Institute of Epidemiology of Rospotrebnadzor Viktor Maleev.
Anthrax caused the death of a child who on Monday. The number of confirmed human cases has already reached 20, Irina Shestakova, chief freelance infectious disease specialist at the Ministry of Health, said on Tuesday.
According to Shestakova, eight of the 20 cases are children. A total of 90 people were hospitalized, who were in the focus of infection in the Yamal region, but in most of them the diagnosis is not confirmed.
The reason for hospitalization was the slightest ailment, including a runny nose and skin irritation.
"Several patients, who caused us concern a few days ago, today, according to the results of the morning round, showed a stable condition with a very clear positive trend," Shestakova said.
The cases are usually related to families of reindeer herders. 2.3 thousand deer died from anthrax in the region.
According to local authorities, deer in search of food stumbled upon the remains of an animal that died from anthrax and then infected each other.
The Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug authorities have already begun to vaccinate both animals and the families of reindeer herders. The first to receive the vaccine will be residents from the "clean zone", living near the outbreak of the disease.
Meanwhile, all people who were directly in the outbreak receive antibacterial drugs as part of the prevention, and three days after that they will be vaccinated.
BBC Russian Service talked to VictorohmMaleevth about how dangerous the outbreak is in the YNAO and what local authorities need to do now to avoid such incidents in the future.
Animal burial with security
BBC: What are the reasons for the outbreak of anthrax in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug and is it possible to say that this is some kind of out of the ordinary case?
Viktor Maleev: To say that this is something outstanding, of course, is impossible, because there were more outbreaks. The main reason is that the cattle burial grounds, which used to be under permafrost, apparently thawed, and the bacterium became more active. It is usually in spore form, but here it was in vegetative form.
One reason is that we may not know the location of all animal burial sites, and this bacterium can persist for hundreds of years.
When there was an outbreak of the disease many years ago, it was also very heat. This is an animal disease, and now more than two thousand reindeer have died there.
Since people live there very closely, they live near the camps, that is, the sick are among them. So far, one child has died and had an intestinal form: he apparently consumed contaminated meat.
Now they are working on a very important problem - the disposal of dead animals and the creation of a new cattle burial ground for many years to come, with protection so that people no longer have the opportunity to catch this bacterium.
Image copyright Reuters Image caption Spores and vegetative cells of the anthrax pathogen - Bacillus anthracis - under a microscopeBBC: Does this mean that Nenets reindeer herding communities are in a very vulnerable position in relation to this and other diseases that are transmitted through animals?
V.M.: Probably, to some extent, yes. They have such a life, they communicate most closely with animals, and so it has been for many centuries. It's probably better when people are separate, animals are separate, but this is the type of life that exists in many parts of the world. Although, of course, children could be kept away, I guess.
BBC: How big is the public danger of this outbreak?Say, should people in Yamal, who are not reindeer herders and do not live close to them, be afraid of something?
V.M.: No, this infection is not transmitted in this way. It is dermal, that is, it is a contact route of transmission, only people who have contacted deer.
In this case, there is a skin form, only one boy had an intestinal form, and the skin form is dangerous only by contact. Since all patients with a cutaneous form are already isolated, it is impossible for someone to rub closely against this skin, so the contact route of transmission is not dangerous for others.
True, we need to watch others, because we do not know how many people interacted with deer.
Climate influence
BBC: What is the forecastandWhen is anthrax diagnosed in humans? What does it depend on?
V.M.: The prognosis depends on the time of initiation of treatment and on the form of the disease. When there were cases of bioterrorism in America, the disease was spread by airborne droplets. The pulmonary form, as in cases of bioterrorism, is worse, and when it is cutaneous, it is usually considered that the lethality is up to 10%.
BBC: AT last time anthrax was recorded in Yamal in 1941, 75 years ago. Why is the disease returning?
V.M.: Climate, climate. Climate change have a strong influence. Old cattle burial grounds: apparently, it was just that while there was permafrost, we did not fully know what was there.
These places are poorly explored, and cattle burial grounds for 100 years after burial are dangerous, and now this situation has turned out with a sharp warming of the climate.
In other regions of Russia, access to animal burial grounds is limited, they are known, they are protected, no activity is carried out there. And here all the same nomadic places, huge spaces.
BBC: It was reported that the manufacturer of the anthrax vaccine shipped a thousand doses to Yamal. Who is the primary target for the vaccine?
V.M.: Now we mainly vaccinate veterinarians and livestock breeders. Now we need to be especially careful, because we don’t know: maybe some deer have already suffered mild forms of the disease, and people communicate with them.
You also need to vaccinate laboratory workers who work with bacteria. Thank God there is a vaccine. It is not found in many other diseases.
Now the main thing is to return to the issue of these animal burial grounds in order to limit them so that the animals do not climb there.
Every year, with the arrival of spring on the territory of the Russian Federation, along with flood waters, the problem of animal burial grounds rises to the surface. According to the regulatory authorities of the Russian Federation, most of the hazardous burial sites do not meet sanitary standards. Meanwhile, not only do flood waters wash away improperly conserved animal burials, but negligent farmers simply throw off the carcasses of dead animals in the nearest landfills. At present, there are thousands of animal burial grounds on the territory of our country, where the remains of animals with dangerous diseases are buried.
So, not long ago, employees of the environmental prosecutor's office and Rosselkhoznadzor discovered 130 ownerless cattle burial grounds in the Voronezh region. Therefore, experts fear outbreaks of anthrax, brucellosis, and rabies in this area. Skulls and bones are a familiar part of the rural landscape. And even what the tall grass hides now, the smell betrays. Everything is open on the territory of the closed animal burial ground. The fence doesn't stop anyone. Two pits with remains are covered only with wooden shields. The owner of this farm is still hidden - Rosselkhoznadzor is looking for him. The land here is federal, but local residents say everything was bought by a private trader.
In turn, as the deputy head of the department of the Office of the Rosselkhoznadzor for the Voronezh and Volgograd regions explained, he explained: “There are 40 such cattle burial grounds in the Voronezh region. They are a danger, since wild animals, dogs take away all biological waste from there. Which can be a danger of various epizootics "These are common diseases for humans and animals: rabies, anthrax, brucellosis, and many others."
According to all sanitary rules, the pit itself should be laid out 40 cm above the ground, a blind area is made so that groundwater does not get there. Close tightly with a lid and be sure to lock. There must be a shed. "In the past, enterprising farmers literally leveled cattle burial grounds. Under an ordinary-looking field, there could be a pet cemetery. Now they don’t even do that. The remains are simply thrown into a ravine or into the nearest landfill.
There are 326 official cattle burial grounds in the Voronezh region. According to the Rosselkhoznadzor, almost none of them comply with all norms and rules. Since the beginning of the year, Rosselkhoznadzor inspectors have issued 45 fines. The environmental prosecutor's office went to court. Farmers now have three months to convert all Animal Burial Grounds into Strongholds. Where the waste does get into the soil, it is better not to dig deep. Spores of the same anthrax are stored in the earth for centuries.
Another large animal burial ground in Nizhny Novgorod region also threatens the population. Previously, experts checked civil defense and emergency situations, checked 231 anthrax cattle burial grounds. Of these, 179 anthrax cattle burial sites do not meet the "Veterinary and Sanitary Rules for the Collection, Utilization and Destruction of Biological Waste", approved by the Chief State Inspector of the Russian Federation.
In addition, earlier the veterinary supervision service of the Arkhangelsk region discovered an ownerless cattle burial ground with anthrax on the territory municipality"Cheremushskoe" in the Kotlas region. The cattle burial ground does not meet veterinary and sanitary requirements, its operation is carried out with gross violations of the law, the territory of the cattle burial ground is not fenced with a blank fence, entrance gates, a canopy is not equipped over the biothermal pit, a room for dissection of animal corpses and storage of disinfectants, inventory, workwear. These violations pose a threat of the emergence and spread of infections dangerous to animals and humans, and, accordingly, implies the occurrence of emergency situations.
Anthrax is an acute infectious disease of animals and humans. Depending on the strain of the pathogen, the lethality of the disease can exceed 90-95%, even with appropriate treatment. The causative agent of the disease forms spores that can remain in the soil for years and withstand boiling for up to 1 hour. Infected soil areas are dangerous for herbivores for decades. The removal of spores from the depth of the soil can be facilitated by river floods, plowing and earthworks in places of burial of animal corpses. In Russia, from 15 to 50 cases of anthrax are registered annually.
In addition, global climate processes pose a threat to the reopening of anthrax animal burial grounds in the Arctic and the emergence of dangerous foci of infection there, the information department of the Russian Emergencies Ministry reported. Climatic anomalies, influencing the state of the permafrost zone, increase the threat of the reopening of anthrax burials with the release of the pathogen into the external environment. The ability of anthrax spores to persist in the soil for a long time (more than 50 years) increases the risk of foci of infection. More than 100,000 anthrax animal burial grounds have been registered on the territory of the Russian Federation. Of these, according to available data, about 400 are located in the Arctic
Old-timers in the village of Laikovo insistently assert that there is a cattle burial ground on the field where SU-155 plans to build a new city for 30,000 people. The letter from the Main Department of Veterinary Medicine of the Moscow Region states that in 1965 there was an outbreak of anthrax in Laikovo.
Residents of Laikovo, protesting against the multi-storey building of CJSC SU-155, give one more “deadly” argument to all the arguments “against”: the old-timers claim that there is an anthrax cattle burial ground on the territory of the planned microdistrict. What threatens the area, if this burial ground is inadvertently disturbed during construction work, it is better not to even assume.
Until 2001, a cattle farm operated on the field where development is planned. The cowshed with breeding bulls "for export" belonged to the state farm "Gorki-2" and existed since the pre-war years. The farm was prosperous until the time of perestroika, then only cows remained, giving milk to the local population. At present, only picturesque ruins remain of the barn buildings, which, as the representative said design organization at public hearings, are not included in the territory planning project and will be demolished.
Laikovsky field will be built up with high-rise buildings
- Somehow suspiciously quickly the state farm "Gorki-2" curtailed its activities in Laikovo and sold the land very cheaply, Laikovo activists were alarmed. Comparing the memories of the old-timers of the village about the burial of animals with the facts of the development of vaccines and biological weapons, including anthrax, on Vlasikha, the initiative group made an inquiry to the Main Department of Veterinary Medicine of the Moscow Region.
The answer dated April 4, 2014 No. T2-57 / 32-03-02 states: “According to the entries in the epizootic journal State institution veterinary medicine of the Moscow region "Odintsovo district station for the fight against animal diseases" in the village. Laikovo, Odintsovo municipal district, Moscow region, no animal burial grounds, including anthrax, were registered.
At the same time, according to the "Handbook of settlements of the RSFSR, disadvantaged areas for anthrax (part 2), 1976" on the territory of the Odintsovo district of the Moscow region in 1965, a case of anthrax outbreak was registered in the village. Laikovo Gorsky village council. There is no information about the exact location of the burials. On the issue of coordinating construction work in this locality construction organizations did not apply to the GUV MO "Odintsovskaya raySBBZh".
The community of defenders of Laikovo from high-rise buildings has doctors and a veterinarian. They began to question the old-timers in more detail and look for facts confirming the presence of a cattle burial ground or pointing to its location. “So far, no documentary evidence has been found,- the activists say, making a reservation about the secrecy of information on the development of vaccines and on the military Vlasikha in general, - but the search will not stop. Can you imagine what might happen if the barrow is demolished during construction in the near future? But the developers have not carried out exploration work and will not do it - it is too troublesome, long and expensive.
Hoping for help and patronage, the inhabitants of Laikovo wrote a letter to the President of the country: “On the land plot, which, according to official data, is a permanently unfavorable point for anthrax, and the exact location of the anthrax cattle burial ground has not been established, the boundaries of its sanitary protection zone of 1000 m (in accordance with hazard class I) have not been determined. How could it happen that with the grossest violationSanPiN on anthrax, creating a direct threat to the life and health of the population, developed a plan approved by the governor for a huge multi-storey microdistrict? It is designed forhigh building density number of floors up to 14 floors, population30,000 inhabitants, and underground parking for 20,000 cars.
Almost 75 years later: last week it became known about the mass death of deer in Yamal from anthrax: more than 2,300 animals died, quarantine was introduced in the Yamal region.
According to the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, the reason for the infection of the deer was an unusually warm summer for the Far North: for a month, the Yamal was anomalously hot - up to 35 degrees Celsius. More than 160 people, including over 90 children, were evacuated from the reindeer herders' camp. On Monday, the YNAO authorities announced that the diagnosis of anthrax had previously been confirmed in 8 people, including three children. One child has died.
About what measures are being taken to combat the terrible disease and why the disease returned again decades later, the website correspondent spoke with an honored worker of science, a member of the New York Academy of Sciences, chief researcher Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology named after Gamaleya Viktor Zuev.
“Anthrax is a particularly dangerous disease that affects not only animals, but also people. The first outbreak of this disease in the last 75 years occurred due to an unusually hot summer for these parts, which caused the cattle burial grounds to thaw, where during the last outbreak of the Siberian plague, the remains of animals that died from the disease were buried ..
Unfortunately, it is impossible to immediately establish: the spread of the ulcer became known only after the mass death of deer began. And the most energetic reaction from the sanitary and epidemiological services immediately followed: the best specialists and equipment were sent to Yamal, and even the military was involved, the expert noted.
"All this suggests that the attitude towards such phenomena in our country is very serious. And it is not worth linking this with some tragic prospects: a long time ago in our country, Soviet Union, a very effective vaccine against Anthrax was created, therefore, the contingent that is sent there is vaccinated ..
This pathogen is dangerous for its survivability: the substance that it produces creates a kind of capsule around it, which allows it to survive for almost a hundred years, while maintaining resistance to temperature changes. All existing cattle burial grounds are located not only in the permafrost zone, but also in the Chernozem zone, in ordinary latitudes and there is no permafrost.
"All these cattle burial grounds can be opened up due to river flooding. For example, recently Voronezh and Chelyabinsk were floating during the flood and this was an exceptional event. And such exceptional events can open up, wash out cattle burial grounds. Of course, this must be carefully monitored. And our sanitary Epidemiological services know and remember about this.
Of course, the question arises: why were people and animals in these areas not vaccinated earlier? The reason, apparently, is that no one knew about the existence of cattle burial grounds in this place. And it’s simply impossible to do it all over the country prophylactically, the expert said
"And today we will not be able to name exactly the area where there is an increased risk of such infection - we do not know the location of the old burial grounds. I have a dacha in the Pavlovo-Posadsky district. Maybe in 1600 cattle burial grounds were also organized here, who knows ?.
Science, experts, are very vigilantly watching this. Much has been done by microbiologists and virologists in Soviet time. And now this work continues. In our research center received a vaccine against the Ebola virus.
"Our microbiologists are great: she created it very quickly, with an original approach. So, we have everything in order with the sanitary and epidemiological services, starting from the old days. During the war, we won two battles: one on the battlefield, and the other - in hospitals, with infectious diseases," Viktor Zuev told the website.
She shared her point of view in an interview with a Pravda,.Ru correspondent and acting Director of the Institute of Biology, Komi Scientific Center, Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Biology Svetlana Dekteva
“As for Yamal, the information is absolutely correct in the media. There are a lot of animal burial grounds on the territory of the Tundra, and some with a long and long history. Very hot summers, and in general, global warming provokes the thawing of permafrost. anthrax, especially in permafrost, persists for centuries. It is not always known exactly where such cattle burial grounds are located, this was the reason for such a force majeure situation," Svetlana Dekteva said in an interview with the site.
Experts predicted that under global warming and melting permafrost can activate microbes that cause infectious diseases, some of which are even unknown modern man because they haven't been heard from in decades.
“The fact that anthrax pathogens were transmitted to people from infected deer is explained very simply: reindeer herders are in direct contact with animals, they eat venison. Sick children, most likely, also became infected from sick animals. Ulcer spores can also enter the respiratory tract , this is confirmed by cases of infection when the virus was sent by mail," Svetlana Dekteva said in an interview with the website.
It cannot be said, the biologist continued, that we have no work in this direction: specialized institutions are purposefully engaged in the fight against such diseases. The Academy of Sciences deals with this issue to a lesser extent. But there are special institutes in the country that are engaged in the study of infectious diseases, the development of sera against them.
"Of course, vaccination, as a prevention of diseases, is the most the best remedy. However, when the disease does not remind of itself for a long time, it is probably possible not to be vaccinated. But against poliomyelitis, outbreaks of which were recorded not so long ago in Ukraine, Moldova and the republics Central Asia vaccination is a must. That's why we vaccinate all our children. We must remember that in the 50s of last year, a lot of children died from this disease, including those in developed countries such as the United States," Svetlana Dekteva told the website.
The insidiousness of such diseases is that they are active. In the Middle Ages, the plague wiped out entire cities in Europe. And now every now and then there are terrible epidemics: they just seem to have coped with Ebola, so attack again - the Zika virus, which spreads very quickly in a hot climate.
“It is worth noting that such global epidemics are typical, first of all, for countries with a very hot climate. In the North, low temperatures were a deterrent. But there is warming and the infection gets a favorable environment for the spread,” Svetlana Dekteva said in an interview with a correspondent website.
In Russia, there are hundreds of abandoned burials of animals that died from anthrax. There are no fences and signs "Caution! Anthrax" near them. Often burials are not put on the cadastral register, that is, according to the documents, they do not even exist. Such conclusions can be drawn on the basis of judicial statistics for 2009-2016.
A recent example: in June 2016, the Central District Court of Chelyabinsk considered the case of an abandoned animal burial ground with anthrax. The burial is located 500 m from the village of Pashnino in the Krasnoarmeisky district of the Chelyabinsk region. The lawsuit against the local authorities was filed by the Chelyabinsk environmental prosecutor.
From the survey report ... it follows that the anthrax burial does not comply with the Veterinary and Sanitary Rules for the collection, utilization and destruction of biological waste
the court's decision
In particular, "the territory of the burial is not fenced, there is no ditches, an earthen rampart along the perimeter of the territory of the anthrax burial, there is no overlap, full house, the distance to pastures, cattle passes is less than 200 meters, the distance to the residential area is less than 1000 meters, the distance to highways- less than 60 m.
"Thus, there is a threat of harm to the natural environment," the court's decision says, "as well as to the health of people living near the anthrax burial site, since it is impossible to control its negative impact."
The court ordered the local authorities to register the cattle cemetery and equip it in accordance with sanitary standards.
Since 2009, the courts have issued about 300 such decisions. As follows from these statistics, abandoned cattle burial grounds with anthrax were found throughout almost the entire country.
For example, in February 2016 there was a court decision seven cattle burial grounds with anthrax in the Tver region. Administration of Vakhonin rural settlement ordered to put them on record and fence.
In the same month, the court issued a similar decision. 18 anthrax cattle burial grounds in the Perm region.
There are no owners of these objects, the objects do not meet the requirements of the veterinary and sanitary legislation
the court's decision
On the map - all considered for 2009-2016 cases, which are associated with anthrax animal burial grounds and where the plaintiff's claims were satisfied. About 90% of all cases are about registering ownerless cattle burial grounds, as well as about their arrangement in accordance with the rules.
The number of satisfied claims in cases of animal burial groundswith anthrax for 2009–2016
Data source bsr.sudrf.ru
According to the head of the Greenpeace Russia energy program Vladimir Chuprov, there may be hundreds of other abandoned cattle burial grounds with anthrax in Russia, in addition to those listed in court decisions. And at any moment one of them can become the source of the epidemic.
For example, a cow or a deer will come up, nibble on grass and become infected, - said Alexei Kovelenov, chief infectious disease specialist of the Leningrad Region. - And people are behind the animals.
Perhaps this is how the epidemic broke out in Yamal.
At the end of July, it became known that deer had become massively ill with anthrax there. More than a hundred local residents were hospitalized. In 24 people, the diagnosis of anthrax was confirmed. An elderly woman with her grandson died due to illness.
Many of those infected ate deer meat. The children, as Rospotrebnadzor found out, pulled out the veins from the dead deer with their teeth in order to make threads from these veins (this is a national tradition).
Viktor Maleev, Deputy Director for Research at the Central Research Institute of Epidemiology of Rospotrebnadzor, previously called the main cause of infection in Yamal in the media:cat burial grounds, which used to be under permafrost, apparently thawed, and the bacterium became more active. "He noted that the authorities and scientists may simply "not knowlocations of all animal burial grounds, and this bacterium can be stored for hundreds of years."
Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on natural resources, nature management and ecology, Alexander Vasilenko explained to Life why the authorities do not know about many cattle burial grounds.
Let's say the river bed changes, and the water begins to wash away old burials, he said. - So it was, for example, in the Tver region, when the Volga and reservoirs changed their configuration a little. And local residents say that there used to be a cattle burial ground here, we know about it, but this is not recorded anywhere. And then information about this can reach the prosecutor's office. And the prosecutor's office can, in turn, apply to the court. This is a typical situation.
As Aleksey Kovelenov said, when cutting a carcass, you can become infected with a skin form of anthrax, and if you eat the meat of an infected animal, you can get an intestinal, more serious one.
Like Life, in the cutaneous form, after an incubation period of 3-14 days, a small red spot appears on the skin, as if from an insect bite. Then it turns into a pimple, vesicle, boil. There are several rashes, they are very itchy. There is fever and chills. The intestinal form of anthrax begins with a sharp pain in the abdomen. Then the patient is tormented by bloody vomiting and bloody diarrhea. The thing is that the same boils form in the intestines and stomach. In the pulmonary form, they occur in the respiratory organs. This provokes a cough with bloody sputum, choking and chest pain.
Anthrax is treated with antibiotics and bed rest. In the case of a skin form, sterile dressings are applied. After a few years, the disease can be re-infected.
If anthrax is left untreated, the mortality rate for cutaneous anthrax is 10-20%, with intestinal - about 50%.
It cannot be said that anthrax in Russia "subsided" before the Yamal epidemic. Individual cases of infection were recorded every year, but they were not massive.
Every year, scientists from the Stavropol Research Anti-Plague Institute analyze the number of cases of anthrax in Russia. They also give forecasts for the next year (usually 20-24 people). It turns out that this year the incidence was higher than scientists expected, and broke a seven-year record.
