This would be the first anthrax outbreak in the area since 1941, said Anna Popova, chief state sanitary doctor of Russia. Now, laboratory tests have confirmed that the reindeer died of anthrax, Gov. The hospitalizations came after up to 1,200 reindeer died over the past month, which officials originally blamed on a heat wave in the region. In remote regions, he explained, people generally get one of two forms of anthrax infection: cutaneous, caused by anthrax spores infecting the skin around a cut or abrasion, or gastrointestinal, caused by eating infected meat. (CNN) Thirteen people have been hospitalized amid an outbreak of anthrax in western Siberia, the governor's office of the Yamalo-Nenets autonomous region reported Thursday.

Source: CNN July 28, 2016 22:30 UTC