MOSCOW, July 18. /TASS/. Four out of five patients infected with anthrax in the Tuva Region in southern Siberia have left without authorization a local hospital where they had been undergoing treatment, according to a statement by the regional Health Ministry on Tuesday.
"Four patients hospitalized with anthrax refused treatment at the [region’s] infectious diseases hospital and left the medical facility without authorization. One patient continues to receive [in-patient] treatment," the statement said. The regional branch of Rospotrebnadzor, Russia’s federal public health watchdog, was immediately informed of the situation.
According to public health officials, all five of those infected are in satisfactory condition; however, according to sanitary rules and regulations, they can be discharged only after all manifestations of the disease on the skin have healed. "Human-to-human transmission of the infection is quite rare but possible, particularly if a patient’s skin ulcers have not completely healed," Rospotrebnadzor added.
On June 30, the Tuva Region Prosecutor General’s Office reported that in the village of Bizhiktig-Khaya, Barun-Khemchiksky District, a local resident was hospitalized with anthrax after a visit to a shepherds’ encampment where over 100 unvaccinated animals were held. Six individuals, including four children, permanently reside at the encampment. On July 6, a diagnosis of anthrax was confirmed for four more people, all of whom were taken to the regional hospital.
Anthrax is a particularly dangerous infectious disease affecting humans and mammals. Its agent in the form of spores remains viable in soil for years.