According to Russian state-owned media, a positive identification of Anthrax in Paninskiy District, Voronezh Oblast, Russia, has prompted a state of emergency declaration. The report reads below:
“In the Paninsky district of the Voronezh region, a focus of anthrax was discovered. Because of this, a state of emergency was introduced on its territory, which will be valid until November 16, local authorities said .
It is noted that localization and disinfection of the focus of the disease has already been carried out, its boundaries have been established. A door-to-door round of the settlement was also carried out. In addition, a number of restrictions have been introduced.”
This is not the first outbreak of Anthrax inside Russia; a deadly outbreak in 2016 was caused by infected reindeer herds in the Yamalo-Nenets region of Siberia. The most infamous instance was a 1979 outbreak of a weaponized strain of the bacteria in 1979 which killed dozens in Sverdlovsk, Soviet Union.
Few details are available as to the cause, this is a developing story.
A rare disease, human anthrax is most common in Africa and central and southern Asia. It also occurs more regularly in Southern Europe than elsewhere on the continent and is uncommon in Northern Europe and North America. Globally, at least 2,000 cases occur a year, with about two cases a year in the United States. Skin infections represent more than 95% of cases. Without treatment the risk of death from skin anthrax is 23.7%. For intestinal infection the risk of death is 25 to 75%, while respiratory anthrax has a mortality of 50 to 80%, even with treatment. Until the 20th century anthrax infections killed hundreds of thousands of people and animals each year. In herbivorous animals infection occurs when they eat or breathe in the spores while grazing. Animals may become infected by killing and/or eating infected animals. (Wiki)
