An anthrax outbreak in Siberia, believed to be connected to a diseased reindeer that froze decades ago, has hospitalized over a dozen people and killed more than 1,500 animals.
NBC News reported that local authorities believe that the reindeer's carcass thawed amid unusually high temperatures, releasing the bacteria into the population of animals nearby.
A state of emergency was issued in Russia's Yamalo-Nenets autonomous district in western Siberia, the first of its kind since 1941. The network said that 13 people in the region were hospitalized because of the outbreak.
The Siberian Times wrote Tuesday that officials were concerned about nomadic herders in the Tarko-Sales camp, 335 miles southeast of Salehard, the region's capital.
"There is a doctor near the breeders – there are 63 of them – who monitors their health condition," a statement from the governor's office stated, according to The Siberian Times. "As a preventive measure all the nomads from the area will be flown to another part of the tundra for preventive inoculation. A helicopter has already been sent to their camp."
Young reindeers have not been able to feed because of the deaths of their mothers during the anthrax outbreak.
"Based on a comprehensive analysis, experts confirmed that the mortality of the reindeer is caused not only by heatstroke (the animals are unaccustomed to such high temperatures) but also by a sickness - anthrax," stated a government report.
The publication stated that temperatures in the Yamal tundra region above the Arctic Circle have hit highs of 95 degrees Fahrenheit this summer compared to the average of 77 degrees.
Anthrax is a serious infectious disease caused by gram-positive bacteria known as Bacillus anthracis,
according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. People can contract anthrax if they come in contact with infected animals or contaminated animal products, noted the CDC.
Anthrax can be produced in a laboratory and
used as a bioterrorism weapon because its microscopic spores can be put into powders, sprays, food, and water.
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