Russian Siberia has been rocked by an invasion of blood-sucking ticks that experts said included a new and deadly “mutant” variety.
The scale of the swarm left some hospitals – already stretched with rising coronavirus cases and deaths – without vaccines and medicine.
It has left some hospitals unable to cope with the onslaught of the mutant ticks. In the Krasnoyarsk region, there are 428 times more ticks than usual – sparking fears of Lyme disease and illnesses that cause brain inflammation.
Medics in the region reported some 8,215 tick bites including 2,125 cases that involved children. The suburbs of Krasnoyarsk city are infested with 214 ticks per square kilometre.