35 infected with anthrax

At least 35 people have been infected with anthrax in Sirajganj in the last couple of weeks, according to health officials in the district.

Twenty of the affected people are from Jamtoli village in Kamarkhand upazila while the rest are inhabitants of Koijuri village in Shahjadpur upazila.

People coming in contact with the meat of anthrax-infected animals were getting the bacterial disease, Eman Ali, senior health education officer in Sirajganj, told The Daily Star.

Two specialised medical teams from the district civil surgeon's office were working to provide treatment to the affected people in their areas.

“The patients are being cured,” said Enam, who is also the head of an anthrax-monitoring team in the district.

Prof Mahmudur Rahman, director of the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), said the disease was a “regular phenomenon” in Sirajganj and Meherpur.

“There is nothing to panic. The affected ones are being treated,” he said.

He also suggested that people should neither slaughter any sick animal like cow or goat nor eat their meat.

Shahed Mohammad Sadekul Islam, civil surgeon of Sirajganj, said apart from providing treatment to the affected people, the district health office also started generating awareness about anthrax among the locals.

The district livestock department also started vaccinating the cattle in the affected areas against the disease, he added.