“The risk of importing plague into Russia from Mongolia is practically excluded. The area where the infection occurred is 500 kilometers from our border, even more.”
Rospotrebnadzor and other agencies are monitoring the situation. But this does not mean, the professor emphasized, that we have nothing to worry about. On the territory of Russia, according to him, 11 natural sources of plague have been registered with a total area of more than 200,000 square kilometers.
“They represent a potential danger,” Sergey Balakhonov did not hide. “After all, these are territories where the causative agent of the infection – the pest microbe – persists for a long time. Its viability is maintained by animals susceptible to the disease: most often these are rodents or hares. It comes through the bites of fleas, certain types of ticks, and other blood-sucking insects. The causative agent, carrier, and vectors of the infection create a natural reservoir where the pest microbe can persist for a long time.” it is a natural focus. And if a person gets into the circulation of such a triad, he can become infected.
However, it turned out that the most epidemiologically significant at the moment are only two Siberian foci – Altai Alpine and Tuva. On its territory, the pathogen of the plague is detected annually, sick and carrier animals are found. Recently, the natural focus of the Central Caucasus has shown activity.
“The rest -assured the epidemiologist- are in a long inter-epizootic period. The tests reveal only indirect signs of infection there. The active phase, when people can become infected, has not been recorded in them. The epidemic potential of these territories is considered low. However, control is necessary.”
Read in full in the next issue of Rossiyskaya Gazeta.
