At least 53 people in Rangpur, Dinajpur and Gaibandha have been treated for anthrax symptoms in the past month, 37 of them in Sundarganj upazila of Gaibandha, now identified as the main anthrax hotspot of Rangpur division. Health officials say the infection spread from the slaughter of sick cattle and the sharing of their meat. The same areas saw an outbreak at the same time last year.

On 9 September a sick cow was slaughtered in Bachhati village of Sarbananda union, Sundarganj, and its meat shared among 100 families. Within two weeks infections had spread to Sarbananda, Tarapur, Kanchibari, Sonaray and Ramjiban unions. By 24 September, 19 women, 14 men and 4 children had been treated at the upazila health complex. Upazila livestock officer K M Iftekharul Islam said two meat samples collected on 21 September tested positive for anthrax.

Handling a carcass is enough to be infected. Shafiq Alam of Bachhati said he did not eat the meat but helped with the slaughter and got blisters on both hands where the blood touched them. In Rangpur district 13 people were infected; they recovered after ten days' treatment at Pirgachha upazila health complex, and an icddr,b team confirmed anthrax from samples. That cow had been bought from Sundarganj. In Dinajpur a soldier and his parents fell ill after eating meat from a household cow and have recovered.

Sundarganj has about 254,000 cattle. After last October's outbreak, ring vaccination began in 15 unions and 19,000 cattle have been vaccinated so far. Government guidelines require every animal within three kilometres of an outbreak to be vaccinated; the upazila livestock officer said 11,000 doses are in stock.

Researchers from icddr,b and IEDCR say goats, sheep and buffalo can also spread anthrax; last year a woman in Sundarganj died after cooking and eating meat from a sick goat. Gaibandha district livestock officer Md Jobaidul Kabir said cattle are prioritised because outbreaks in the region have historically come from cattle, while other animals are being monitored. IEDCR has urged that a veterinarian's clearance be made compulsory before any sick animal is slaughtered.

Upazila health officer Kamrul Hasan said anthrax is fully curable with the right medicine. "Not slaughtering sick animals, cooking meat well and making sure cattle are vaccinated are the main ways to prevent this disease," he said. The message for livestock keepers is plain: do not slaughter or sell a sick animal; report it to the livestock office first.

Photo: Khaleq / Wikimedia Commons (public domain)

Source: Sarabangla