Russia - Patients Infected With Anthrax Escape Hospital, July 2023

[Warwick1991]

Russia Says Patients Infected With Deadly Bacteria Have Escaped

According to this story, in Bizhiktig-Khaya, Siberia, 4 patients infected with anthrax fled the hospital before their symptoms were fully cleared. The individuals were part of a shepherd's encampment, and contracted anthrax by eating contaminated horsemeat. This may signal a serious anthrax release in Siberia.

This is very unusual from Russian media, which is now heavily censored, similar to the Soviet period. The story may have an ulterior motive, possibly to explain an anthrax release that is a public health threat. In April 1979, there was a release of a plume of airborne anthrax from a military bioweapons facility in Sverdlovsk, now Yekaterinburg, Russia. At least 66 people were killed, and numerous others made seriously ill with anthrax. In the 1979 incident, Soviet authorities initially blamed the spread of anthrax on contaminated meat, but this was to hide the activities of the bioweapons factory. Anthrax poisoning kills 62 in Russia

Anthrax is not generally spread from person to person, so "escape" from a hospital should not really be a concern. What is Anthrax? | CDC

 

[Warwick1991]

According to the CDC, there is a chance that anthrax skin lesions can be a source of infection to another person if they aren't healed. It sounds like the possibility is limited.