Flood-Stricken Russia South Fears Anthrax Outbreak
Mon Jul 1, 9:48 AM ET

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian health workers said on Monday they had started a vaccination campaign to avert an anthrax outbreak in the aftermath of some of the country's deadliest floods in decades.

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The surging waters, which have killed at least 109 people in southern Russia over the last two weeks, have also washed open 12 burial grounds for cattle infected with anthrax -- a potentially lethal bacteria used in biological warfare.

"Because burial grounds with anthrax-infected carcasses have been swept away, people are under theoretical threat of becoming infected," Interfax agency quoted Nadezhda Zhilina, head of Russia's Gossanepidnadzor epidemiological agency, as saying.

"But there have been no unfortunate incidents so far."

Anthrax is still commonplace in Russia's remote agricultural communities. Every year some 20 Russians contract anthrax, a bacteria that can cause rashes, putrid sores and even death.

Relief workers say hundreds of people are already ill with infectious diseases, dysentery and stomach complaints. More than 200,000 villagers are still living without running water.

Gossanepidnadzor said people in the affected area were being vaccinated against anthrax and water-borne diseases including typhoid fever and hepatitis A.

In addition to the 109 reported dead in the two-week flooding, 32 remain missing, authorities said.

President Vladimir Putin ( news - web sites), who visited the water-logged region on Friday, has repeatedly criticized the slow pace of relief efforts in Russia's breadbasket regions.

"Efforts are mild, very mild. The work, in any case what I saw, is ineffective," Putin told a government meeting on Monday.

"With regard to the population, there is still a lot to do, for the victims, elderly people, and for young people preparing for university."

The government decided on Monday to award from 20,000 ($650) to 50,000 roubles ($1,600) to those affected by the floods, but has not yet established a full list of victims. Some 300,000 people live in the flooded region.

Falling water levels have allowed workers and soldiers bought from rebel Chechnya ( news - web sites) to reopen communication links and highways. Thousands of homes are still flooded.

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