Bangladesh vaccinating cows to contain anthrax outbreak

AFP/Dhaka Bangladesh has launched a vaccination drive in its northern dairy farming region to contain an outbreak of anthrax that has affected more than 100 people this week, an official said yesterday. Another 62 infections have been reported in the last 24 hours, taking this week’s toll to 114, Mahmudur Rahman, a health ministry director, told AFP. No one has died. “We have sent medical teams to all anthrax-affected areas. The livestock department has also launched a major vaccination drive in the region,” he said. Anthrax is a potentially lethal bacterium that exists naturally in the soil and commonly infects livestock which ingest or inhale its spores while grazing. It can be transmitted to humans who handle or eat infected animals. Anthrax does not spread directly from one infected human or animal to another but is spread through spores. Anthrax spores can be produced in vitro and have been used in biological warfare. Weaponised anthrax has not been part of Western countries’ military stockpiles for decades but has been used in bio-terrorist attacks. Bangladesh’s current outbreak - one of nine this year - has spread in the dairy farming districts of Sirajganj and Pabna due to diseased cows being slaughtered and then sold on, Rahman said. All of the current cases in Bangladesh are cutaneous - or skin - anthrax, which can cause wound-like lesions, he said. “The farmers were not aware of anthrax. They slaughtered sick cows without knowing that it could transmit the disease to humans,” he said. Along with the vaccination drive, local authorities have launched an awareness-raising campaign in the region, urging farmers not to kill infected animals and sell the meat.