Sanitary control at the border with China will be strengthened due to seasonal diseases

Rospotrebnadzor announced the strengthening of sanitary control on the border with China in connection with the appeal of the Vice-Speaker of the State Duma from the New People party Vyacheslav Davankov. On November 29, Mr. Davankov approached the department with such a proposal due to the increase in respiratory diseases. According to the response to the appeal from the head of the department, Anna Popova, strengthening measures have been taken, and the increase in incidence is associated with the autumn-winter period of the year.

“The territorial bodies of Rospotrebnadzor in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation that have transport connections with the PRC have been given instructions to strengthen sanitary and quarantine control based on an assessment of epidemiological risk,” says the Rospotrebnadzor document (available to Kommersant).

The document also notes that the Perimeter information system is used on the Russian-Chinese border, which ensures a prompt response to emergency situations of sanitary and epidemiological risk. Mr. Davankov stated the need to use this system in his address.

According to Vyacheslav Davankov, the need to strengthen control at the border arose due to the increase in respiratory diseases and registered outbreaks of undiagnosed pneumonia in children. Anna Popova notes that in China there is a cyclical rise in incidence, but no detection of an unknown pathogen of acute respiratory infection. “A surge in the incidence of respiratory diseases is generally typical for the autumn-winter period of 2023. There is no data on the identification of a new or unknown pathogen of acute respiratory infection in China,” the text of the response letter says.

In November, The Telegraph reported on an outbreak of unknown pneumonia in China. The publication referred to the ProMed service, which tracks outbreaks of diseases in humans and animals. Then the service reported on pockets of undiagnosed pneumonia in children in northern China. After this, WHO demanded from the Chinese authorities more data about the disease; at the end of November, the Chinese leadership reported an increase in the incidence of mycoplasma pneumonia. Yesterday, October 7, Anna Popova told reporters that in Russia the first case of mycoplasma infection was registered at the end of September, and in mid-November the infection “disappeared.”