[Antibacterial susceptibility/resistance of Vibrio cholerae eltor clinical strains isolated in the Caucasus during the seventh cholera pandemic].

The data on antibacterial susceptibility and resistance of Vibrio cholerae eltor phenotypes with different sets of the susceptibility or resistance markers conditioning the outbreaks and sporadic cases of cholera in the Caucasus within 1970-1998 are presented. An increase of the number of the Vibrio cholerae phenotypes resistant to tetracycline and chloramphenicol usually used in the treatment of cholera was recorded in 1990-1994 vs. 1970-1989. The El Tor cholera vibrios stored on synthetic media lost some of their resistance markers, therefore the retrospective investigation of the antibioticograms was only of approximate prognostic value in the choice of the drugs for the etiotropic treatment of cholera in view of possible outbreak of the disease.

[Current state of epidemiologic surveillance of natural foci of plague of North Caucasus]. / Sovremennoe sostoianie épidemiologicheskogo nadzora v prirodnykh ochagakh chumy Severnogo Kavkaza.

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. In this connection the necessity to carefully plan prophylactic measures and measures aimed at the localization and liquidation of the probable foci of infection arises.

[Population density and area-specific distribution of the imago form of Hyalomma marginatum ticks, the vector of Crimean haemorrhagic fever, in Dagestan]. / Chislennost' i statsial'noe raspredelenie imago iksodovogo kleshcha Hyalomma marginatum--perenoschika krymskoi gemorragicheskoi likhoradki v Dagestane.

The results of the determination of the amount and location of ticks Hyalomma marginatum in Daghestan at the period of the appearance of cases of Crimean haemorrhagic fever (CHF) are presented. The domination and abundance indices of these ticks in different landscape areas, on the territories of some plain and foothill regions of the Republic of Daghestan are given. The advantages of the effective method for the collection of ticks "on the observer" have been substantiated. The data thus obtained are of importance for the epidemiological surveillance and prophylaxis of CHF.

[The epizootic situation on the territories with natural foci of plague in Chechen Republic and in the Republic of Ingushetia]. / Epizootologicheskaia obstanovka na ochagovykh po chume territoriiakh Chechenskoi Respubliki i Respubliki Ingushetiia.

Information on recent epizootic activity on the territories with natural foci of plague, situated in the Chechen Republic and the Republic of Ingushetia, is presented. Opinion is advanced concerning an increase in the epidemiological potential of the Terek-Sunzha hill focus and the Caspian sand focus of plague, which under the conditions of complicated socio-political situation in the area does not exclude the possibility of epidemiological complications.

[State of the natural foci of tularemia in the eastern part of the Northern Caucasian region]. / Sostoianie prirodnykh ochagov tuliaremii v vostochnoi chasti regiona Severnogo Kavkaza.

The short characterization of the territory, known to contain the natural foci of tularemia, in the eastern part of the foothill area of the Caucasus is presented. The Caspian plain-foothill focus and the Terek-Kuma focus were shown to be the most dangerous among these foci. The severe outbreak of tularemia took place in the Terek-Kuma focus in 1999. Local epizootic could be stopped here only after the appearance of patients with clinical manifestations of tularemia. The epizootological survey of the territory for tularemia in 3 natural foci of Daghestan and in the natural focus of the Caucasian foothill area is carried out in an insufficient volume due to the complicated socio-political situation in the Chechen Republic and the insufficient financial support of the work on the study of the foci.

[Outbreak of tularemia in the Republic of Dagestan]. / Vspyshka tuliaremii v Respublike 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 71.8% of patients. 28% of patients were infected through contacts. The disease took mainly a mild course, registered in 95.6% of patients. The disease affected those persons who had not been immunized against tularemia.

[The mechanisms of the intrafocal and territorial spread of cholera in the Republic of Dagestan]. / O mekhanizmakh vnutriochagovogo i territorial'nogo rasprostraneniia kholery v Respublike Dagestan.

The description of the epidemic manifestations of cholera in the Republic of Daghestan at the period of the seventh pandemic, linked with the action of such common transmission factors as water, food and everyday contacts, is presented and their role in the territorial spread of this infection is evaluated. The analysis of family foci in the Derbent and Kaiakent regions in 1994 is given; the conclusion is made that a low sanitary level of human dwellings leads to a wide spread of cholera among close relations due to the action of water, alimentary and contact factors of transmission.

[The routes of the spread of cholera in the Shamil'skii Mountain District of Dagestan]. / Puti rasprostraneniia kholery v Shamil'skom gornom raione Dagestana.

The routes of the spread of cholera were analyzed in 273 patients and Vibrio carriers during the outbreak of cholera in a mountainous region of Daghestan during the period of July 18 to September 4, 1994. Cholera was found to spread mainly after funeral repasts and condolence visits accompanied by the dispensation of foodstuffs, transmission being realized through alimentary and contact routes. Under the conditions of the absence of the centralized water supply system in mountain villages and the contamination of water in open reservoirs it was found to be expedient to use, in addition to the recommended complex of antiepidemic measures, small automatic filtration units.

[The cholera outbreak in one of the central regions of Dagestan]. / Vspyshka kholery v odnom iz tsentral'nykh raionov Dagestana.

The data on the epidemiological analysis of cholera cases in the epicenter of this infection in the Daghestan, viz. in the village of Gerga, Kaiakent District, are presented. The outbreak of cholera was due to the import of this infection by pilgrims from their hajj to Saudi Arabia. The causative agent of the outbreak was the epidemic variant of V. cholerae eltor Ogawa. Everyday contacts were the main route of the transmission and spread of this infection, the water factor playing an insignificant role. Two epidemic waves of cholera were registered in Gerga, each of them provoked the penetration of the infection to other regions of the Republic of Daghestan.

[The epidemiological characteristics of cholera in the Republic of Dagestan. An assessment of the epidemic-control measures]. / Epidemiologicheskie osobennosti kholery v Respublike Dagestan. Otsenka nekotorykh protivoépidemicheskikh meropriiatii.

Retrospective analysis of epidemic cholera manifestations was made in Daghestan using the data of operative epidemic analysis of the break in 1994. Unexpected prolongation of epidemic process of cholera for Daghestan, which was imported by pilgrims from Southern-Western Asia, has been shown using climate-geographical social-demographical and sanitary-hygienic peculiarities. Common laws of development of epidemic complications were demonstrated, as well as the main ways of infection transmission of great number of Daghestan settlements in epidemic process. The importance of antiepidemic means and significant role of created specialized antiepidemic groups have been emphasized in rapid carrying out of means in infection focus, including massive investigation of people in settlements.

[Trimethoprim resistance--a differential trait of strains of Yersinia pestis from a variety of voles]. / Ustoichivost' k trimetoprimu--differentsial'nyi priznak shtammov polevoch'ei raznovidnosti chumnogo mikroba.

Strains of all Y. pestis varieties except for those isolated from voles are highly sensitive to trimethoprim when grown on cultivation media, even when thymidine is added to the medium. The ability to grow on thymidine-containing rich media after trimethoprim addition is a property differentiating Y. pestis variety isolated from voles from the other varieties. These data were confirmed by testing 360 Y. pestis strains obtained from collections of several antiplague institutes and stations of the USSR.