Rospotrebnadzor, the state consumer safety watchdog, said tests have started on rodents (Performance)
Moscow:
Russia said on Wednesday that a remote Far Eastern region near Mongolia had started testing rodents for bubonic plague after cases of the disease were confirmed in Mongolia and China.
Rospotrebnadzor, the consumer safety watchdog, said tests have started on rodents such as groundhogs in the eastern Siberian region of Buryatia, which borders Mongolia.
The results of serological and other tests to “detect the plague antigen performed in 2020 have been negative,” said the regional branch of the watchdog in a statement.
Public health officials have called on residents of the mountainous regions of Tuva and Altai not to hunt or eat groundhogs after two cases of bubonic plague were confirmed in Mongolia last week.
The two cases concerned brothers who had eaten groundhog meat.
The World Health Organization said on Tuesday that it is also monitoring a case of bubonic plague in China after being notified by authorities in Beijing.
In Altai, which, like Tuva, also borders on Mongolia, the authorities launched a public awareness campaign by distributing leaflets to local residents.
Some areas near the Russian border with Mongolia are natural hot spots of the plague.
Rospotrebnadzor warned of the increased risk of spreading the disease to Buryatia from neighboring regions, including Tuva and Altai.
The plague is very contagious and transmitted between animals and humans by the bite of infected fleas and contact with infected animals such as marmots.
Despite the precautions, Rospotrebnadzor stressed that there was no danger of the spread of bubonic plague across the country.
(This story has not been edited by GalacticGaming staff and is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)
