Plague in kosh agacha today. Outbreak of bubonic plague in Altai

The natural focus of the plague in the Altai Mountains, where a child was infected last summer, has existed for many decades, but in 2012 a more dangerous form of this disease came here from Mongolia, head of the republic's Rospotrebnadzor Leonid Shchuchinov said at a meeting in the regional government.

The high-mountain focus of plague in the Kosh-Agach region is the most active of 11 natural foci of this infection in Russia. Here, from 2012 to 2016, 83 strains of the main subspecies were isolated: 1 strain in 2012, 2 in 2014, 17 in 2015, 65 strains in 2016.

“The trouble is that in 2012 a new, especially virulent plague pathogen from Mongolia passed to us, to our “peaceful” Gorno-Altai natural focus,” said Shuchinov. Plague in Altai: where tourists should not go

He added that the forecast of the situation for 2017, prepared on the basis of annual reviews against the background of the development of epizootics in the gray marmot settlements, suggests that the epidemiological situation in the natural focus of the plague in Gorny Altai will be difficult.

“Accounting work showed that in the area where cases of human disease were localized, the groundhog practically died out from the same plague, and in the sectors where the greatest epizootic activity was manifested, now its numbers are extremely low or it is absent. At the same time, the population in the border areas is quite high. In addition, most of the focus is located in Mongolia, and, perhaps, our focus is somehow fed from there, ”the press service of the government quotes the director of the Irkutsk Research Anti-Plague Institute of Siberia and the Far East, Sergei Balakhonov.

the main problem

The scientist clarified that it is still not completely possible to convince the local population of the danger, some people, according to the centuries-old tradition, still catch and eat marmots, the main carriers of a dangerous infection. They ignore the ban on marmot hunting introduced last year by the head of the republic, this is also confirmed by raids during which fresh skins, carcasses, and fishing gear are found. Longevity vaccine to be given to Americans

Specialists emphasized that the specificity of high-altitude natural plague foci is such that it is almost impossible to quickly achieve their recovery - this is shown by many years of experience of specialists in Mongolia and other similar foci.

We are talking about minimizing the risks, the possibility of spreading infection among people. For this, a comprehensive plan for the gradual improvement of the focus has been developed. In particular, this is a general vaccination of the population of the region, starting from the age of two, as well as all those who come here on long business trips, to visit or on vacation. Camels are also vaccinated without exception.

In July 2016, a 10-year-old boy from the village of Mukhor-Tarhata was infected with bubonic plague in the Altai Republic. He was not vaccinated and came to the shepherd's camp to visit. The child became infected while helping his grandfather to remove the skin from the caught marmot.

The child was hospitalized and everyone in contact with him was quarantined. In the area, raids began on the parking lots, the population was explained why it is dangerous to hunt these animals. In addition, there is a ban on marmot hunting in the region to avoid the spread of the disease.

bubonic plague. We understand together with the site what kind of disease it is, who is at risk of becoming infected and whether it is worth fearing an epidemic.

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1 What is bubonic plague?

Plague is an epidemic infectious disease, one of the most dangerous infections. It proceeds with an exceptionally severe general condition, fever, damage to internal organs, often with the development of sepsis, and is characterized by high mortality. The incubation period lasts from several hours to 3-6 days. The most common forms of plague are bubonic and pneumonic. Previously, mortality in the bubonic form of plague reached 95%, with pulmonary - 98−99%. Currently, with proper treatment, mortality is 10-50%.

2 How dangerous is bubonic plague?

The disease is very difficult. The body temperature rises sharply, severe chills occur, later dizziness, headache, weakness, muscle pain, nausea and vomiting join. Further, anxiety, delirium occur, coordination of movements, gait, and speech are disturbed. The lymphatic system becomes inflamed, and tumors are formed that are sharply painful when touched - buboes. Immunity is weakly resistant to such a disease, therefore, if a person comes into contact with infections, it is almost 100% likely to become infected. After the illness, relative immunity develops, which does not protect against re-infection.

3 How is bubonic plague spread?

The causative agent of infection - the plague bacillus - lives in the body of fleas. Small rodents, camels, cats, dogs can carry infected fleas that can bite a person.

4 Is it easy to catch the plague from a sick person?

Patients with the bubonic form of plague are practically non-contagious. You can pick up the disease only by direct contact with the purulent contents of the plague bubo. Severe epidemics develop when the disease passes into a septic form, as well as when the bubonic form is complicated by secondary pneumonia. Then the pathogen can be transmitted by airborne droplets.

5 Does this mean that the epidemic can quickly spread in the Altai Republic and the Altai Territory?

Usually, when infected, severe symptoms appear immediately - fever, delirium, and so on. Therefore, such patients are quickly treated and bubonic plague does not have time to turn into a more contagious form - pneumonic. Therefore, a person will not infect another with his cough. And if you do not plan to tame wild rodents, butcher the carcasses of sick gophers or eat their meat, then there is nothing to be afraid of at all.

6 Are there outbreaks of plague in Russia and Altai?

There is. They are located on the territories of the Astrakhan region, the Kabardino-Balkarian and Karachay-Cherkess republics, the republics of Dagestan, Kalmykia, Tyva.

In the Republic of Altai, the natural focus of infection is located on the territory of the South Chuya Range. There are about 40 livestock breeders' camps, a frontier outpost, and frontier posts in the areas where the plague spread. More than 5 thousand people live in immediate danger (not counting tourists). Experts have identified 31 strains of the plague pathogen in small mammals, and dangerous antibodies have been found in wild birds in some tracts. all game caught will also be confiscated. The population will be told why it is impossible to eat rodents and why violation of prohibitions is dangerous. In addition, it is planned to catch stray animals, remove garbage, rid the area of ​​rodents and insects.

On July 12, a 10-year-old boy was brought to the central hospital of the Kosh-Agachsky district of the Altai Republic with a temperature of over forty and sharp pains in the abdomen. Analysis showed that he had bubonic plague. Information confirmed Rospotrebnadzor.

Most likely, the student caught a terrible disease by eating groundhog meat. They say that before the incident, his grandfather, a hunter, butchered a plague marmot in a parking lot in the mountains. At the same time, hunting for marmots is officially prohibited in the republic, since these animals are the main carriers of the plague.

Now the boy is in the infectious ward, his condition is assessed as moderate. Together with him, another 17 people were officially quarantined, including preschool children. According to a local hospital employee named Nazikesh, they are all relatives among themselves, they all ate marmots. They are also being tested now.

In 2014 and 2015, there were two confirmed cases of bubonic plague in Altai. Inhabitant of Kosh-Agach Nurdana Mausumkanova said that in the village of Mukhor-Tarhata, from where an infected boy was brought to the Central District Hospital, many people hunt and eat marmots:

We are already accustomed to hearing that someone has contracted the plague there. Nothing surprising. But today (July 13), at about 18.30, a local therapist came to us and said to urgently vaccinate against the plague. You need to come to the hospital tomorrow or they will even come to the house. The doctor said that there were already 50 people in quarantine and the infectious diseases department was overcrowded.

Olga Eremeeva also lives in this village and every year in the fall he is vaccinated against the plague:

I never eat woodchucks precisely because I'm afraid of catching the plague.

Despite the fact that local residents do not panic and perceive what happened as an ordinary event, tourists who are now in the Kosh-Agach region are very worried. We phoned the chief infectious disease specialist of the Altai Territory Valery Shevchenko and asked whether vacationers should be afraid of the plague.

The main carriers of plague in the Kosh-Agach region are marmots. Therefore, tourists should remember that it is life-threatening to contact with these animals, butcher them and eat them! If you just visit the territory of the Kosh-Agach region, admire nature, there is no danger.

Valery Vladimirovich also advises to be attentive to the food that can be served in a dangerous area:

Even for reasons of routine prevention of other infections!

Important!

According to Rospotrebnadzor, a ban on marmot hunting has been introduced in the Altai Republic, 6,000 people have been vaccinated against plague, mass deratization of settlements has been carried out, the entire Kosh-Agachsky district is littered with leaflets on plague prevention, children in schools wrote essays about the plague. It would seem that both old and young are well aware of the danger of contact with marmots, but ... poaching for the marmot continues!

By the way

How is this infection being treated now?

The plague covered mankind three times with a black wave. The first happened in the second half of the 6th century AD, then in the middle of the 16th century - the infamous Black Death, which decimated two-thirds of the population of Europe. The last wave began in China in the second half of the 19th century and claimed millions of lives in Asia.

And so far, the bubonic plague (as it was called because, with the development of the disease, the lymph nodes swell - buboes appear) has not been completely and irrevocably defeated. This infection periodically flares up in different parts of the globe - either in Madagascar or in Kyrgyzstan. Now here in Altai. Will this case mark the beginning of a new epidemic of black death? After all, it is already known that the sick child was in contact with almost two dozen people who have already been urgently placed in isolation.

Just don’t demonize the plague, warns the chief infectious disease specialist of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation Vladimir Nikiforov. - Our fear is just a legacy of the Middle Ages, when nothing was known about this infection. Today, the plague is well treated, with the most common antibiotics. This is a bacterial infection for which antibiotics are available. With adequate and competent therapy, a complete recovery occurs.

The most important thing is to diagnose bubonic plague in time, before it passes into the pulmonary form, and this can happen within a day. If this happens, then the patient becomes contagious to others. The bubonic form of the plague, which has so far been diagnosed in a child, is transmitted only from animal to human.

There are no difficulties with diagnosing bubonic plague, - Vladimir Nikiforov is sure. - All doctors are well aware of the symptoms of especially dangerous infections. Laboratory bacteriological analysis is necessary to confirm this diagnosis. The therapy for the plague has long been worked out, so there is no need for any panic, the epidemic does not threaten us. Nothing extraordinary has happened yet. Since there are natural foci of infection, it means that there will be cases of infection from time to time. Although I don’t remember the last time there was a plague in Russia.

Today there is a vaccine against bubonic plague, but, according to the chief infectious disease specialist, it is not one hundred percent effective. Yes, and it is used according to epidemiological indications (that is, in areas where infections often occur) and only among adults engaged in fishing related to hunting, processing the skins of wild animals.

In the Altai region, where a child fell ill with bubonic plague, marmots will be poisoned en masse.

A case of infection with bubonic plague was recorded in the Kosh-Agachsky district of the Altai Republic. With such a diagnosis, a 10-year-old boy was hospitalized in the regional hospital. This information was confirmed to RG by the republican department of Rospotrebnadzor.

Quarantine was introduced in the district, 17 people were identified who were in direct contact with the child, all of them were also placed in an isolation cell under the supervision of doctors, the department noted.

According to doctors, the boy's condition is of moderate severity, nothing threatens the child's life now. Other hospitalized signs intkbbee no serious illness has yet been identified.

According to preliminary data, the child could become infected in the mountain camp during the cutting of the marmot carcass. For the third year in a row, an increase in the incidence of bubonic plague among animals has been noted in the region. In this connection, there is a ban on hunting marmots throughout the republic. But local residents ignore this ban and continue to hunt rodents and eat them.

As noted in the department of Rospotrebnadzor in the Republic of Altai, after a case of human infection, the entire population of the Kosh-Agach region will be vaccinated against bubonic plague. Prior to this, selective vaccination was carried out in the region among hunters, livestock breeders, inspectors of nature conservation areas, who, on duty, often visit the habitats of marmots.

In the Republic of Altai, deratization of areas where the plague was discovered has begun. Carriers of bubonic plague - marmots - will be poisoned in the villages of Kosh-Agach, Ortolyk and Mukhor-Tarkhata, writes Life.

To prevent the possible spread of the disease, a decision was made to poison the rodents not only in Kosh-Agach, the village where the family of the sick boy lives, but also in two neighboring ones - Ortolyk and Mukhor-Tarkhata, a source in the Ministry of Emergency Situations said.

Deratization will begin, according to preliminary information, on July 14. In the yards and on the streets of villages, disinfectants will pass through the streets of the villages and spread poisoned baits: millet, seeds or oil. In the house where the boy's family lives, disinfection will be carried out, it will be treated with deochlor or calcium chloride. Deratization work will be carried out within 7-9 days.