Less than a third of cattle burial sites in the Central Federal District contain anthrax — Igor Shchegolev

"According to the data of the control and supervisory authorities, there are currently over 1,400 cattle burial grounds in the district, 28% of which are anthrax. However, not all burials are included in the statistics," Igor Shchegolev said at a meeting on security in the Central Federal District, held in Voronezh. 

Thus, in 25 districts of the Tver region, where cases of anthrax among animals have been recorded since the beginning of the last century, there are about 200 burials, but only 143 have been recorded on the ground, the boundaries of the rest have not yet been established. "And of those cattle burial grounds that are known, some do not have an officially registered owner. In the same Tver region, all anthrax cattle burial grounds are ownerless. In the Ivanovo region, there are 51 such sites," Igor Shchegolev noted. 

According to him, the main reason for the current situation is the lack of regulation in legislation on the issues of registration, maintenance and liquidation of such objects, which is why he supported the government's bill on the registration of cattle burial grounds, requirements for their operation and liquidation. 

The plenipotentiary representative noted that for many years the territory of the Central Federal District had been safe in terms of anthrax, but in three regions in the summer of 2023 this situation "was disrupted".

Also in the district, according to Igor Shchegolev, cases of African swine fever, highly pathogenic avian influenza, sheep and goat pox continue to be recorded. "Carrying out anti-epizootic measures is complicated by the lack of up-to-date information on animals in private subsidiary farms (PSF) in veterinary authorities - authorized bodies do not have the right to access private households and seize animals, so there are often cases when owners of PSFs resist investigations of disease outbreaks. Another sore point is non-compliance with the rules for the collection, storage, disposal and destruction of biological waste," said Igor Shchegolev.