In August of this year, 11 residents of a village in the Yanaulsky District of the Republic of Bashkiria were hospitalized and diagnosed with anthrax after eating meat from an infected horse.
"Knowing that the horse was sick, she sold around 200 kilograms of its meat," the Russian consumer rights regulator has said in a statement.
An investigation into how the horse became infected has been launched. The woman faces up to 2 years in prison.
Anthrax affects both wild mammals and domestic cattle that ingest or inhale the bacterial spores while grazing. Humans can contract the disease if they are exposed to the blood or tissue of infected animals. It can be highly lethal, but in some forms responds well to antibiotic treatment.
