Tularemia and Stalingrad?!

http://cns.miis.edu/research/cbw/tula.htm

A former deputy director of the Soviet Russian Biopreparat. Alibek claims in his book that tularemia (caused by the bacterium Francisella tularensis) was deployed against Nazi troops during the battle for Stalingrad (August 1942 to February 1943). Alibek bases his allegation on the hundreds of thousands of tularemia infections that quickly arose at the beginning of the siege and the collaborative statements of an elderly lieutenant colonel in the Soviet Red Army. Alibek also reports a significantly high (70%) pulmonary involvement among those infected with tularemia from both sides, suggesting man-made air-borne dissemination.

Although no doubt exacerbated by wartime conditions at Stalingrad we believe that the tularemia epidemic of 1942-1943 was a natural outbreak.

Second the Rostov region alone already had 14,000 tularemia cases in January 1942, several months before the major Panzer assault on the city. With the large epizootic pool of F. tularensis among mice and water rats (and a severely if not completely disrupted hygiene and sanitation system), it probably required no help from Soviet bioweaponeers to create the conditions for an epidemic. One Soviet Red Army commander, Marshal K.K. Rokossovisky reflected in his memoirs on a counteroffensive in Stalingrad: "...just during these tense days, tularemia, a disease spread by mice suddenly emerged among our pilots. The number of infected pilots became so high, that it was necessary to take steps to save personal structure and aircrafts: The mice chewed all rubber and rubber insulation."

Interestingly, The Soviets reported that a live tularemia vaccine prepared by H.A. Gaiskii and B.Y. Elbert was tested at the Stalingrad front. (Sources conflict regarding whether or not large-scale tularemia vaccinations were administered for Soviet Red Army troops.)

 

Infection and Stalingrad? Anybody read about this elsewhere?

 

I read that Soviets had Flu and Booster/Vitamin shots for the troops at Stalingrad.