For the first time since 1941, there is an anthrax outbreak. One child has died, and almost 100 other persons have been hospitalized, with dozens of confirmed cases. More than 2,300 reindeer have succumbed to the disease. “There is no epidemic in Yamal. Only a small area was quarantined,” the region’s governor told the Associated Press. Yamal is a subdivision of Siberia.
Source: Washington Post, August 2, 2016.
Since July, however, something unusual has been afoot in Yamal: Temperatures have soared, reaching 95 degrees. In the ensuing thaw, the once-frozen carcasses of reindeer have attracted bacteria, including one that causes anthrax. Anthrax bacteria normally can’t survive in the region’s climate.