VORONEZH, August 22. /TASS/. Another epizootic anthrax outbreak has been detected in the Voronezh Region.

Anthrax was found in two refrigerated areas in a shopping mall housing a food market in Voronezh. The region’s governor, Alexander Gusev, on Tuesday issued a decree imposing a quarantine in the area until October 23. Any visits to the area are banned.

Cases of anthrax were registered at the Krasnye Kholmy farm in the Voronezh Region on Sunday. Russia’s sanitary watchdog confirmed one anthrax case in a human. The man caught the disease while slaughtering an infected animal. He was taken to a hospital in a condition of moderate gravity and those who contacted with him are under medical supervision. An emergency regime was imposed in the area until November 16.

Anthrax is a bacterial infection caused by the organism Bacillus anthracis. It can be found in grass-eating wild and domestic animals, such as cows and sheep, most often in the agricultural regions of Asia, Africa, South America and parts of Europe (southern and eastern). Diseased animals can spread anthrax to humans, either by direct contact (e.g., inoculation of infected blood to broken skin) or by consumption of a diseased animal's flesh. Anthrax does not spread directly from one infected animal or person to another; it is spread by spores. These spores can be transported by clothing or shoes. There are effective vaccines against anthrax, and some forms of the disease respond well to antibiotic treatment.