India: Anthrax strikes again, 1 dies

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Source: http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IEQ20080614031545&Page=Q&Title=Orissa&Topic=0

Anthrax strikes again, 1 dies
Saturday June 14 2008 13:37 IST

Express News Service

JEYPORE: The dreaded anthrax continues to haunt the tribals of Semiliguda block. In a fresh outbreak of the disease a tribal of Hadiguda village died and 12 others were affected on Thursday.

The villagers of Hadiguda had taken raw meat four days back and sometime later their bodies started swelling. However, one Rabi Sisa of the village succumbed even before getting treatment. Meanwhile, a medical team has rushed to the village.

The disease was found among the tribals of Mantriput, Kudugam and Kontaguda in the past one month and two were killed of Anthrax while over 100 were afflicted in the three villages.

The intensity of the disease was curbed then but the fresh outbreak has once again put the administration on its toes.

Sources said despite several appeals by the government and private agencies Semiliguda?s populace has been consuming raw meat of cattle on different occasions leading to the outbreak of the disease and onset of monsoon has only aggravated the situation.

Five blocks of Koraput district Laxmipur, Dasmantpur, Lamtaput, Semiliguda and Naryanpatana are anthrax prone areas where every year 50 persons die of the disease and over 1000 tribals get afflicted.

The Centre had sent a medical team to report on the anthrax situation in Koraput a few months back and open a research centre on the disease but it is yet to materialise.

 

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Re: India: Anthrax strikes again, 1 dies

Source: http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=14694691

Gujarat village declared anthrax-hit
Saturday, 14 June , 2008, 20:09


Ahmedabad: Bagdana, a village in Bhavnagar district of Gujarat, has been declared anthrax-hit by the district authorities after sample of a domestic animal tested positive for the disease.

"One sample from the dead animals in Bagdna was found to be positive for anthrax. That is the reason we declared the village as anthrax-hit yesterday," Bhavnagar district collector Pradeep Saha said on Saturday.

Anthrax is a serious disease of sheep and cattle, able to be transmitted to humans. It is caused by the bacterium bacillus anthracis which is highly lethal in some forms.

About half a dozen animals had died in the village recently and their samples were sent for testing, he added.

The administration had decided to take all necessary steps to control the spread of the disease, Saha said.

 

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Re: India: Anthrax strikes again, 1 dies

Source: http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=14695526

Anthrax vigil around Gir sanctuary
Monday, 16 June , 2008, 15:25

Vadodara: Gujarat Forest Department has increased surveillance around Gir National Park in Junagadh in the wake of outbreak of anthrax in a village in the neighbouring Bhavnagar district.

Anthrax is a serious disease of sheep and cattle, able to be transmitted to humans. It is caused by the bacterium bacillus anthracis which is highly lethal in some forms.

The department is concerned about the safety of wild animals in the park which also houses Asiatic lions, said Principal Secretary to the department Sudeep Kumar Nanda.

Anthrax was reported from Bagdna village last week after samples of the some of the dead domestic animals tested positive for the disease.

Besides 359 Asiatic lions, the Gir sanctuary is home to 500 leopards and animals like jungle cat, hyena and jackal.

Some time in search of food, these wild animals stray into Bhavnagar district, where people from several villages around Bagdana have sighted lions in the past, he said.

If these wild animals consume anthrax-affected animals the disease can spread to the sanctuary, department officials said.

Nanda said Gir's forest guards have been told to bring to the notice of the department any incident of wild animals suffering from the disease.

 

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Re: India: Anthrax strikes again, 1 dies

Source: http://www.expressindia.com/latest-...cted-among-humans-at-Bagadana-village/323580/

No anthrax syndrome detected among humans at Bagadana village
SIBTE HUSAIN BUKHARI
Posted online: Tuesday , June 17, 2008 at 10:48:36
Updated: Tuesday , June 17, 2008 at 10:48:36

Junagadh, June 16 Medical teams have been rushed to Bagadana village in Mahuva taluka in Bhavanagar district in the wake of the reported outbreak of anthrax among domestic animals there.

Sources said a high level team of officials headed by state animal husbandry department secretary S J Haider was rushed to the village to take stock of the situation.

Officials said that even a team of private doctors headed by Jayesh Sheth from Mahuva town took part in the drive. Some 350 villagers, mostly cattle breeders were medically examined for signs of anthrax.

Villagers and officials have now heaved a sigh of relief after tests revealed that the anthrax syndrome had not affected any humans.

Precautionary measures have, nevertheless, been taken, and villagers have been given a ten-days medicine course, they said.

Last week, about half a dozen cows reportedly died in the village. After a dead cow tested positive for anthrax, panic had spread among the villagers.