The Russian Republic of Buryatia is experiencing an outbreak of anthrax centred in Kyakhtinskiy District. The report said that one man, a 62 year-old farmer, had died of the disease on 7 July 1999 and that 10 people had been diagnosed as having it.

It added that 600 had been placed under medical observation and that 200 of them were being treated [prophylactically] with antibiotics. Five hundred people are to be vaccinated, and quarantine measures are in place.

The indications are that the outbreak began in the village of Pervomaysk where cattle became infected at the beginning of the month and had to be slaughtered, passing the disease to humans.

Ninety miners at the Kholboldzhinskiy mine are under medical observation after eating meat from potentially infected carcasses in the miners' canteen. So far, none of them are displaying symptoms of the disease. There is uncertainty as to the whereabouts of another two carcasses sold to wholesalers in the Buryat capital, Ulan-Ude. The medical authorities in the republic have appealed to people not to buy meat at street markets.

Interior and emergencies ministry units are helping to contain the outbreak and doctors have appealed to the military for equipment. The Buryat government has issued a special instruction on combating the disease. The area has had a history of anthrax outbreaks dating back to 1904 and all particularly vulnerable spots, of which there are 199 in the republic, are being monitored closely.

Dorothy B. Preslar
Director, AHEAD/ILIAD Project

Federation of American Scientists
307 Massachusetts Ave. NE
Washington, DC 20002

http://www.fas.org/ahead/