Anthrax outbreak kills 15 pigs in Kupang

KUPANG, East Nusa Tenggara (JP): A highly infectious disease is believed to have killed at least 15 pigs and affected 25 others in Taru village, Central Kupang.

Kupang Regent Paul Lawa Rihi said here Tuesday that the villagers who raised the pigs told him the animals died suddenly after losing their appetite, getting red spots on their bodies, then mucus oozed from their noses, and their legs and faces swelled up.

"I don't even know what type of disease attacked the villagers' pigs but it's clear that the pets were killed by the disease."

Lawa Rihi said the regency sent samples of the dead pigs' blood and brain tissue to a veterinarian laboratory in Bali for further examination.

"We're now waiting for their findings," he said.

But head of the regency's livestock office Abraham Tome said the infected pigs suffered from a disease called anthrax (caused by the bacterium bacillus anthracis).

Tome said meat from the infected animals should not be eaten as it may cause people to become sick or die.

According to Webster's Medical Dictionary, the disease is transmissible to humans especially by handling infected products and it is characterized by external ulcerating or lesions in the lungs.

Tome called on local residents to report to livestock officers if any animals, particularly cattle or sheep, have similar symptoms.

Twenty-five of the infected pigs were cured after local vets treated the ailing animals with vitamins and penicillin, he said.

Tome said anthrax was very dangerous and could be spread through the air.

Initially, the infected pigs displayed no immediate, visible symptoms, he said. (yac/bsr)