A 12-year boy has died from anthrax in a hospital in northern Siberia amid an outbreak in the Yamal-Nenets autonomous district, the Interfax news agency reported Monday.
The boy was part of a reindeer-herding family and contracted the intestinal form of the disease after eating infected venison, according to the local Siberian Times newspaper.
Eight people in Russia's northern Yamal-Nenets autonomous district have contracted anthrax as of Aug. 1, including three children, the TASS news agency reported Monday, citing the governor's press service.
A total of 72 people, including 41 children, are currently in hospital for observation. The authorities announced quarantine and evacuation in the Yamal district on July 25 after more than 1,000 reindeer died of anthrax — which has struck Siberia for the first time in 75 years.
The outbreak was likely caused by extreme heat, which resulted in the thawing of a frozen anthrax-infected reindeer corpse.
