BIOLOGICAL warfare troops have been rushed to the Russian Arctic amid growing concerns over a serious anthrax outbreak.
A total of 40 people – more than half of them children – are now hospitalised amid fears they may have contracted the deadly infection.
This follows the death of 1,200 reindeer suspected of contracting the disease after a contaminated corpse – buried at least 70 years ago – thawed because of a heatwave in the Yamal peninsula in northern Siberia.
Russian experts have blamed global warming for the prolonged high temperatures – of up to 35C – at the Tarko-Sale Faktoria camp, north of the Arctic Circle.
There were dramatic scenes as the Russian army’s Chemical, Radioactive and Biological Protection Corps, equipped with masks and bio-warfare protective clothing, flew to to regional capital Salekhard on a military Il-76 aircraft to deal with the emergency. Continue Reading>>
