Russian anthrax outbreak linked to climate change

[uhnope]

Source: CBC

A 12-year-old boy has died and 20 people have been infected in an anthrax outbreak in Russia's northern Yamalo-Nenets region, the local authorities said.

Ninety people have been hospitalized on suspicion of having contracted the disease.

Scientists believe that climate change was the main reason behind the outbreak, as abnormally warm weather caused permafrost melting and exposed a reindeer corpse infected by anthrax decades ago.

The Russian emergencies ministry said it has evacuated 238 people, including 132 children, from reindeer herders' camps close to the site of the outbreak.

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/anthrax-outbreak-1.3707132

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Man is trivial compared to nature and cannot change climate - RT.com

Russia takes a skeptical approach to climate change thanks to Putin ...
www.grist.org/article/russia-takes-a-skeptical-approach-to-climate-change-thanks-to-putin/

[snooper2]

1. I knew when I saw the movie "The Thaw" that shit was really going to happen someday

[uawchild]

2. Canada and Russia both seem in denial about climate change

Probably because they both rely heavily on their fossil fuel sector of their respective economies.

Media coverage of climate change[edit]
According to an Environment Canada document, reported by the Montreal Gazette in March 2010, "Media coverage of climate change science, our most high-profile issue, has been reduced by over 80 per cent" since 2007.[16] The Canadian government is being accused of "muzzling" its scientists,[17][18][19][20] as journalists need to file a request to government officials before being allowed to interview scientists, which requests are often denied or only allowed after the news story has already been published by the journalist.[17]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_policy_of_Canada#Media_coverage_of_climate_change

While not as heavy-handed as the Harper government, Canada under Trudeau plans on pushing forward with "oil sand" (aka tar sand) extraction and export.

[JaneQPublic]

3. Story this morning on NPR

http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2016/08/03/488400947/anthrax-outbreak-in-russia-thought-to-be-result-of-thawing-permafrost

It said the thaw could release other diseases, too: "Researchers have found pieces of the 1918 Spanish flu virus in corpses buried in mass graves in Alaska's tundra. There's also likely smallpox and the bubonic plague buried in Siberia."

[TexasProgresive]

4. Anthrax is in the soil of several counties west of me in Texas

There are outbreaks periodically. Since the reindeer was decades old that tells me that anthrax was already present and there was an outbreak several decades ago. The thawing of the permafrost is a factor but is not a release of ancient disease organisms. That may come but this ain't it. And to be infected these people must have handled the dead reindeer. This is not weaponized anthrax that becomes air born.

Anthrax is a serious infectious disease caused by a bacteria called Bacillus anthracis. This bacteria occurs naturally in certain species of animals in the southwestern part of Texas. Many different types of animals, as well as people, can get the disease.
Where in Texas does anthrax occur?
Although anthrax can occur anywhere in the state, the cases are most often confined to a triangular area bounded by the towns of Uvalde, Ozona and Eagle Pass. This area includes portions of Crockett, Edwards, Kinney, Maverick, Sutton, Uvalde, and Val Verde Counties. In these counties, many livestock producers routinely vaccinate livestock against the disease.
https://www.dshs.texas.gov/idcu/disease/anthrax/information/faqs/