The Latest Epidemic in Russia — The Instinct to Conceal

In the settlement of Oy, Republic of Sakha, cows cross the road at sunset on November 27, 2018. According to information provided by Russian authorities, an epidemic of bovine cattle, which has affected parts of Siberia since February, is currently under control and is caused by a relatively minor bacterial infection — pasteurellosis.

However, veterinarians and independent journalists are questioning this narrative, pointing to the measures taken to contain the epidemic — mass culling of livestock, blocking off villages, and secrecy — which resemble a response to foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), a much more serious and economically devastating epidemic.

This discrepancy has sparked resistance among farmers, confusion in the affected regions, and renewed scrutiny over how Russian officials handle crises — often prioritizing information control as much as addressing the problem itself.

The first cases of the currently officially registered pasteurellosis epidemic can be traced back to mid-February. At that time, farmers in the Novosibirsk region began reporting elevated temperatures and other symptoms among their cattle.

Initially, the situation seemed under control, according to Olesya Shmagun, a journalist who has extensively covered this issue for the exiled Russian publication Novaya Gazeta Europe. 'Large producers typically pay for veterinary services, so most of them knew from the start that this was more serious than pasteurellosis: these large farms voluntarily agreed to cull their cows,' Shmagun stated.

However, problems arose when local authorities, relying on reports from veterinarians, issued an order to cull all cattle in the affected regions. This included small farmers, who were largely left in the dark by the authorities.

'Officials did not explain to people why their cattle needed to be culled,' noted a Russian journalist who covered the epidemic for 7x7, an exiled Russian publication focusing on regional issues. 'In a sense, this is also reminiscent of the situation Russia faced during the Covid pandemic, when authorities either refused to acknowledge that there was a problem or claimed to have solved it, even when that was not the case.'

'People were often forced to give up their only cow, and in many cases, that cow was their sole source of income,' an anonymous Russian journalist told the Kyiv Independent.

As a result of the secrecy, the authorities' efforts to contain the epidemic faced strong resistance from small farmers — affected villagers organized protests, attempted to stop veterinary services from confiscating livestock, or tried to hide their animals from the authorities.

'This certainly complicated the situation: if we are dealing with foot-and-mouth disease, the illness can survive in hidden livestock,' Shmagun remarked.

Thus, Russian authorities responded to the epidemic by following classic patterns of denial inherited from the Soviet Union, noted the journalist from 7x7. 'In a sense, this is also reminiscent of the situation Russia faced during the Covid pandemic, when authorities either refused to acknowledge that there was a problem or claimed to have solved it, even when that was not the case.'

According to the journalist, the mass rural protests highlighted how critical the economic situation is for many of them. 'There were many factors for these protests, but the main one is poverty,' the 7x7 journalist asserted. 'In small villages affected by the epidemic, there are usually no jobs, and keeping livestock is often the only source of income, or people have poorly paid jobs but survive through farming or selling milk from their cow.'

While there were many protests, and they often led to arrests of participants, this is unlikely to indicate deeper anti-government sentiments in the region, Shmagun believes.

The secretive approach adopted by Russian authorities during this epidemic has also led to a proliferation of conspiracy theories in the Siberian hinterlands. These include somewhat more rational theories, such as a conspiracy among large producers to eradicate small farmers, as well as wilder concepts — a secret leak from a biological weapons facility in the Novosibirsk region, a Western conspiracy against Russia, or both.

According to Leila Latypova, a special correspondent for the Moscow Times, these theories are symptomatic of the deep distrust that a large part of Russian society feels towards the government. 'Russian authorities are often unaware of the scale of this,' Latypova noted.

At first glance, the efforts of Russian authorities to control the epidemic seemed chaotic and difficult to understand. While foot-and-mouth disease is a serious illness among cattle, it is generally not considered a threat to humans, and epidemics occur regularly worldwide.

However, Russia's response makes more sense in the context of the Kremlin's efforts to increase the country's agricultural exports. A significant step in this direction was the decision in 2025 to include Russia on the list of countries considered free from foot-and-mouth disease, as maintained by the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH).

Inclusion on the WOAH list has helped boost meat exports, particularly to China and Saudi Arabia. If Russia loses its status as free from foot-and-mouth disease, it typically leads to a decrease in exports, as the disease has a high mortality rate for cattle and poses serious risks to local livestock.

'Kazakhstan has imposed a (partial) ban on meat imports from Russia, but China and Middle Eastern countries have not done so yet,' Shmagun explained. 'Overall, it is still too early to understand whether this epidemic has ended or is just beginning.'