[Bacteriological provision of anti-epidemic measures in the zones of a natural disaster in Southern Russia in 2002].

The bacteriological provision of the prophylactic and anti-epidemic measures, taken under the conditions of the unstable sanitary and epidemiological situation which arose as the result of the emergency situation due to the high flood in the Southern Federal District, was carried out by the efforts and means of microbiological laboratories forming a part of the territorial system of observation and laboratory control. On the whole, more than 20,000 samples of water supplied to the population for drinking and household use, more than 10,000 samples of foodstuffs and cooking raw materials were examined in the Southern Federal District during the period of the liquidation of the medico-sanitary consequences of the emergency situation (June-August). To study the epidemic potential of the natural foci of quarantine infections and the probability of the spread of Bacillus anthracis from burial grounds for sick animals, the laboratory capacities of plague-control institutions were used.

[Current state of epidemiologic surveillance of natural foci of plague of North Caucasus].

Information on the epizootic situation in plague in the natural foci of North Caucasus and on the influence of a number of anthropogenic and natural factors on this situation is presented. The data given in this work indicate that under the conditions of the anthropogenic transformation of landscapes the character of the epizootic manifestations of plague is changed and new factors, capable of aggravating epidemiological situation, appear. In addition, some other factors must be considered, such as the insufficient financing of reliable field surveys at present, the impossibility of making reliable epizootological studies due to causes of the social character (armed conflicts), thus making it impossible to evaluate, with a sufficient degree of reliability, the real epizootic state of a number of territories and, therefore, the risk of human infection.

[Working experience of the epidemiological groups of the Stavropol Research Institute for plague control].

With the start of the antiterrorist operation of the federal forces in the Chechen Republic in autumn 1999 a considerable stream of refugees from the regions where hostilities took place poured to the Republic of Ingushetia. Such situation could not help affecting the whole sanitary and epidemiological situation in the republic. The load on the local services of the State Sanitary and Epidemiological Surveillance increased almost two-fold.

[Results of the bacteriological work of the specialized epidemic brigade of the Stavropol Research Institute for Plaque Control].

The experience of use of efforts and resources by the bacteriological section of the specialized antiepidemic brigade of the Stavropol Research Institute for Plague Control in the Chechen Republic during the period of 1999-2000 under the conditions of the emergency situation, formed as the consequence of carrying out the antiterrorist operation, is summarized. The work load falling of the bacteriological section in different shifts, the structure of bacteriological investigations, as well as some problems arising in the process of work, were analyzed. The experience showed the necessity of the complete accommodation of the bacteriological laboratory in specialized motor-vehicle modules having all necessary equipment for investigation works, disinfection, sterilization.

[Specialized epidemic brigade during extreme situation].

Information on the main trends in the activity and on the organization of the work of the specialized antiepidemic brigade of the Stavropol Research Institute for Plague Control in Grozny in the first half of the year 2000 is presented. At the initial stage of this activity the specialists of the brigade were entrusted with all functions of the local state sanitary and epidemiological service which had lost its qualified personnel and material resources. At the initial stages of the work the main attention was drawn to the organization of the registration of patients with infectious diseases, to the control of drinking water and to the realization of immunoprophylactic measures, etc.

[Hyalomma marginatum Koch in Stavropol' region].

Ixodes ticks of the species Hyalomma marginatum are widely spread in the semidesert and steppe landscape zones of the Stavropol Territory. The circle of the main hosts for the larvae and nymphs of these ticks includes many species of wild and domestic birds, European brown hare, four-toed and eared hedgehogs. Rodents are of no great importance for ticks as a feeding source.

[Laboratory diagnostics of the outbreak of Crimean haemorrhagic fever in Southern Russia].

The results of the serological analysis of blood sera taken from patients with Crimean haemorrhagic fever (CHF) and from persons suspected for this disease are presented. These results made it possible to confirm that during the period of April 16-September 04, 2000, the outbreak of CHF occurred on the territory of Southern Russia. In addition to the laboratory confirmation of the outbreak of CHF by means of the enzyme immunoassay and the indirect immunofluorescence test the diagnostic work was completed by the isolation, and subsequent identification, of 3 strains of CHF virus from the blood of patients and 1 strain from the pool of ticks Hyalomma marginatum.

[Role of some wild birds and mammals in the natural foci of Crimean haemorrhagic fever in Stavropol' region].

The results of the study on the role of some wild mammals and birds as feeding sources of for ticks Hyalomma marginatum, the main vectors of Crimean haemorrhagic fever virus in the Stavropol Territory, in the preimago phases of their development are presented. These phases (larvae and nymphs) were found on rooks, hooded crows, partridges, European brown hares and eared hedgehogs. The examination of domestic fowl resulted in finding larvae and nymphs in small amounts on turkeys.

[Clinico-epidemiological characterization of Crimean haemorrhagic fever in Stavropol' region].

The clinico-epidemiological analysis of morbidity in Crimean haemorrhagic fever in the Stavropol Territory is presented. Information on the clinical features, epidemiological characteristics and diagnostic criteria of the disease, as well as trends in its treatment, is given.

[Specific epidemiologic features of Crimean haemorrhagic fever in Stavropol' region in 1999-2000].

The results of the epidemiological analysis of morbidity in Crimean haemorrhagic fever in the Stavropol Territory in 1999-2000 are presented. The epidemiological features, specifically characteristic of the manifestations of this infection in the territory, have been determined.

[Rat extermination in Grozny during emergency situation in the year of 2000].

The main factors leading to the great amounts of rats and small myo-morphous rodents in Grozny were the prolonged absence of deratization measures carried out on the necessary scope, the destruction of buildings, which led to the loss of their impenetrability for rodents and the ensuing spread of rats and mice in all habitats, the storage of foodstuffs in temporary stores which did not ensure their protection from rodents. The present article deals with the organizational measures aimed at carrying out deratization works in Grozny after the completion of the antiterrorist operation, as well as the tactics and methods of such works under the conditions of extreme situation.

[Epidemiological features of leptospirosis in Stavropol' region].

The data on leptospirosis morbidity among agricultural animals and humans in the Stavropol Territory for the last 10 years, as well as the serological picture of the causative agent of leptospirosis, are presented. The epidemiological importance of the main risk factors and their influence on the development and manifestations of the epidemic process are substantiated. As revealed in this investigation, the professional character of leptospirosis morbidity among humans has been almost completely lost under modern conditions, which requires further study with a view to the development of the rational complex of prophylactic measures.

[Outbreak of tularemia in the Republic of Dagestan].

In Daghestan in the focus of the flood-plain swamp type 64 persons fell ill with tularemia in 1999. During the epizootological survey 8 Francisella tularensis strains were isolated from vectors and carriers and in 7 samples taken from open water reservoirs, as well as in 1 sample obtained from Ixodes ticks, tularemia antigen was detected. Humans were infected mainly by the transmissive route, as found in 71.

[Outbreak of typhoid fever in the Chechen Republic in 2000: epidemiological characterization].

The results of the epidemiological investigation of the outbreak of typhoid fever in Achkhoi-Martan region are presented. During the period from December 1999 to April 2000 the disease was diagnosed in 43 persons. The cases of the disease were registered in 3 settlements: Lermontov-Yurt, Kulary and Sernovodsk.

[On the sanitary-hygienic state of the drinking water supply facility and the organization of the sanitary and bacteriological control of the water supply of the population of Grozny in recent years].

Information on the state of water supply in Grozny in the time of peace, during the armed conflict of 1994-1996 and at the period of the antiterrorist operation in the year 2000 is presented. In the year 2000 the centralized water supply of the population proved to be completely paralyzed. The quality of water brought to the city and water from the sources of decentralized water supply considerably deviated from the norm by its bacteriological characteristics.

[Organization and accomplishing of antituberculosis measures in the Republic of Ingushetia].

The epidemiological situation in tuberculosis in the Republic of Ingushetia is evaluated. The unsatisfactory sanitary and hygienic state of camps for migrants (persons, forced to quit the place of their permanent residence), has been found to create favorable conditions for the spread of tuberculosis. Recommendations on the improvement of the organization and carrying out of measures for controlling tuberculosis among both temporarily displaced persons and the local population, as well as on the improvement of the material base of the laboratory diagnostics of tuberculosis, are proposed.

[On sanitary and epidemic situation in the Republic of Ingushetia].

Information on the recent sanitary and epidemiological situation in the Republic of Ingushetia is presented. In some years an almost twofold growth in the number of population was registered in the republic due to the mass influx of temporarily displaced persons. Such factors as excessive population density, the absence of conditions for the observation of elementary sanitary and hygienic norms, malnutrition, complications with the supply of drinking water meeting sanitary norms contribute to the possibility of epidemic complications.

[Organization of the service of the state sanitary and epidemic surveillance in the northern regions of the Chechen Republic at the emergency situation].

The data characterizing the sanitary and epidemiological state of the population and the groups of persons, forced to quit the place of their permanent residence, on the territory embracing the Nadterechny, Naursky and Shelkovskoi regions of the Chechen Republic (CR) during the period of December 16, 1999, to February 19, 2000. A sharp deterioration of the situation which led to the renewal of hostilities on the whole territory of the CR was accompanied by the disorganization of all vitally important structures, including the systems of health service, sanitary and epidemiological surveilance. The above-mentioned regions of the CR were of great importance in the organization of sanitary-hygienic and antiepidemic measures, as it is on the territories of these regions that the camps with many thousands of persons, forced to move temporarily from Grozny and other regions affected by hostilities, are concentrated.

[Epidemic situation in the Chechen Republic].

The data on the morbidity in infectious diseases in the Chechen Republic in recent years are presented. As revealed from these data, under the conditions of the crisis situation the tendency towards the deterioration of the epidemiological situation began to show from the beginning of the 1990s. The growth of morbidity in some infections was registered, the outbreaks of dangerous infections (cholera, poliomyelitis, diphtheria, typhoid fever) appeared.

[The epidemiology of cholera in Derbent District. The characteristics of the epidemic process].

Cases of cholera in the Derbent District of the Daghestan took predominantly mild and moderate clinical forms. The ratio of patients to Vibrio carriers was 1:1.25.