Sanitary-educational activities as an effective method of nonspecific plague prevention in the natural plague focus in the kosh-agach district of the Republic of Altai

UDC: 
613.6.01: 614.3
DOI: 
10.21668/health.risk/2025.2.09.eng
Authors: 

S.V. Balakhonov1, E.S. Kulikova1, A.I. Mishchenko2, V.M. Korzun1, A.V. Rogaleva1, S.M. Lyashenko1, A.A. Itashev2, S.L. Sarikova3, N.B. Kalybayeva4

Organization: 

1Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute, 78 Trilissera St., Irkutsk, 664047, Russian Federation
2Altai Anti-plague Station, 2 Zavodskaya, Gorno-Altaisk, 649002, Russian Federation
3Federal Service for Surveillance over Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing, Altai Republic Regional Office, 173 Kommunisticheskii Av., Gorno-Altaisk, 649002, Russian Federation
4Kosh-Agach district hospital, 3 Meditsinskaya, Kosh-Agach, 649780, Republic of Altai, Russian Federation

Abstract: 

The Altai Mountains are an area of ecological tourism with high potential for further development. At the same time, intensive epizootics of plague are typical for the region including those registered in close proximity to settlements and shepherds’ camps raising likelihood of potential contacts between people and plague vectors and carriers. Potential hazard of plague cases among the population persists in this area and this can result in serious epidemiological complications. From 2010 to 2024, 397 plague microbe strains, 182 Yersinia pestis ssp. pestis and 215 Y. pestis ssp. central asiatica bv. Altaica, were isolated and investigated in the Gorno-Altaisk high-mountain natural plague focus. After cases of the infection were identified in humans (2014–2016), the coverage of the sanitary-educational work increased considerably. Overall, 282 lectures were delivered to the population, more than 15 thousand leaflets and booklets were handed out, and more than 6630 talks were organized over 2016–2022. Annually, sanitary-educational activities are organized for an audience between 20 and 63 thousand people.

The aim of this study was to assess effectiveness of sanitary-educational activities aimed at informing people about risk factors associated with living in a natural plague focus.

The study method was a survey conducted among the regional population using a specifically designed questionnaire. Totally, 1650 residents of the Kosh-Agach districts, including 135 shepherds and their family members, took part in the survey; the district was selected as a plague-endemic area.

According to the survey results, people from the Kosh-Agach district of the Altai Republic (more than 90 % of the respondents) were established to be well aware about risk factors associated with living in a natural plague focus as well as the infection sources, namely, plague vectors and carriers. Most people who lived in this endemic area had means of communication and transportation necessary for applying for medical aid and were ready to inform healthcare workers in case plague was suspected or the first plague signs were manifested in them or their friends or acquaintances.

Keywords: 
Gorno-Altaisk high-mountain natural plague focus, survey, sanitary-educational work, risk factors
Balakhonov S.V., Kulikova E.S., Mishchenko A.I., Korzun V.M., Rogaleva A.V., Lyashenko S.M., Itashev A.A., Sarikova S.L., Kalybayeva N.B. Sanitary-educational activities as an effective method of nonspecific plague prevention in the natural plague focus in the Kosh-Agach district of the Republic of Altai. Health Risk Analysis, 2025, no. 2, pp. 107–113. DOI: 10.21668/health.risk/2025.2.09.eng
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Received: 
27.01.2025
Approved: 
17.04.2025
Accepted for publication: 
14.06.2025

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