Anthrax on the rise in south

Anthrax is spreading in southern Kyrgyzstan, where upwards of two dozen cases have been registered over the past few months, health officials said on Wednesday. Epidemiologists in the south of the former Soviet republic reported that in September and October alone some 25 cases of anthrax were registered in the two southern provinces of Osh and Jalal-Abad, describing recent months as some of the worst over the past few years in terms of the disease dynamics. The serious infection was detected in four districts of the provinces and in Osh city, the capital of the province with the same name, while the condition of one infected patient at the intensive care unit in Osh remained serious. Quarantine has been introduced in the four districts and cattle markets were closed down as well, while veterinary control officials were going from household to household in the villages where infection was detected in order to find cattle not vaccinated against infectious diseases and inoculate them. "Despite our numerous warnings about the creeping threat [of anthrax], some residents, particularly cattle owners and butchers, continued to ignore veterinary control measures," Artykbai Eraliev, deputy head of the provincial sanitary and epidemiological control department, said on Wednesday in Osh. Anthrax is an acute infectious disease caused by the bacterium Bacillus Anthracis. While anthrax most commonly occurs in wild and domestic quadrupeds such as cattle, sheep, goats, camels, antelopes and other herbivores, it can also occur in humans when they are exposed to the tissue of infected animals. Untreated infections can be fatal. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), sporadic cases occur in animals worldwide and there are occasional outbreaks in Central Asia. "The source of the disease is the consumption of infected animals' meat. The cutaneous [skin] form of the disease can easily be treated, while in other cases it is not easy to save the patient," Jura Umurzakov, a doctor at the Osh provincial hospital, explained. Anthrax can occur in three forms: cutaneous (skin), inhalation and gastrointestinal. A butcher in Osh, currently undergoing treatment at the provincial hospital after contracting the disease, conceded to doctors that before the beginning of Ramadan - the traditional season of weddings in the region - he was slaughtering several bulls and sheep ever day. "I don't know how many infected animals I slaughtered," he said. Local officials told IRIN that poor veterinary control in cattle markets was also contributing to the problem. Vet experts point to inadequate cattle breeding practices and lack of resources, when farmers do not vaccinate their animals to avoid extra costs. They also urged the local population to be vigilant and purchase only good quality meat, staying away from cheap meat of suspicious quality. However, experts cite places where infected animals were buried in the past as the major cause of the problem. There are more than 550 such spots in southern Kyrgyzstan, while only 350 of them had been detected, registered, fenced and covered with concrete to prevent infection. But the majority of these spots remained unattended. "There are no warning signs and local people do not know that those are dangerous areas and continue to graze their cattle there," Kadyraly Samiev, a farmer from the Kara-Suu district, said casually. Meanwhile, four residents from Kara-Suu district have been charged with deliberately selling the meat of an animal infected with anthrax. If found guilty, the unscrupulous sellers would face a hefty fine and are likely to pay damages to the 11 infected locals as well. The case is the first in the Central Asian state of charging people accused of propagating anthrax.