MOSCOW – The governor of a Siberian region where nomadic reindeer herders were evacuated after an outbreak of anthrax says a child has died in the epidemic.
The appearance of the bacterial disease in the Yamalo-Nenets region is the first fatal anthrax outbreak reported in Russia in 75 years.
The office of governor Dmitry Kobylkin said on Tuesday that a 12-year old nomad died of anthrax and 20 more people have been diagnosed with it. Hundreds of herders have been evacuated to the regional capital, Salekhard, for treatment.
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More than 2,300 reindeer have died in the outbreak in the remote region 2,000 kilometres (1,200 miles) northeast of Moscow. Kobylkin said all reindeer in the area have now been vaccinated and the deaths have stopped.
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