Five people treated for anthrax

Andi Hajramurni and Rusman, The Jakarta Post, Makassar/Samarinda

A worrying anthrax outbreak in Makassar has infected at least five people, an official stated on Wednesday.

The human infections came to light after official confirmation that dozens of cows in Tamangapa subdistrict died from the disease recently.

A subdistrict chief said here on Wednesday that blood samples belonging to the five people had been sent to a veterinary office in the neighboring regency of Maros for a second opinion.

The local health office earlier did medical checks on the five persons after it was discovered that the cattle they had slaughtered were infected with the often deadly anthrax bacterium, said chief of Tamangapa subdistrict, Maryati. All five are workers at a slaughterhouse in the area.

The medical examinations later showed that the five were suffering from skin infections, very likely consistent with cutaneous anthrax. Approximately 20 percent of untreated human cases of this type of anthrax are fatal.

Maryati added that they also had lumps on their skin with black crust surrounding the lumps.

"The symptoms are different from other skin diseases and from this, we strongly believe they have been infected with anthrax," said Maryati, adding that they would wait for confirmation from the lab in Maros regency.

One of the five has been admitted to a hospital in Makassar city after the lymph glands in his upper neck began to swell and he developed a fever.

Meanwhile, medicine has been given to the other four.

As health officials announced the human cases, another cow was found dead on Wednesday as a result of anthrax, which if cooked sufficiently at a high temperature will almost never affect people that eat the meat of an infected animal.

The number of cows and water buffaloes that have been confirmed victims of anthrax in the area has reached 30.

An official said the government had dispatched a team to stop the spread of anthrax by killing some cows and water buffaloes that likely were infected and vaccinating others. The vaccination was given to healthy cattle. The water buffalo and cow population in Tamangapa subdistrict has been estimated to be least 500. Meanwhile, the slaughterhouse in the subdistrict has also been sprayed with disinfectant to prevent anthrax from spreading to healthy animals, said Muhammad Ridwan Gaffar, a local official in charge of preventing and eradicating anthrax in Makassar.

In response to the outbreak, the South Sulawesi provincial administration has prohibited farmers from taking water buffaloes and cows out of the subdistrict. Similarly, animals from other areas have also been barred from entering the subdistrict to prevent them from being infected.

The last anthrax outbreak in the province was in the 1980s, affecting Bulukumba, Bone and Palopo regencies.

Meanwhile, a similar ban has also been imposed by the East Kalimantan government. Following findings that cattle in Makassar had been infected with anthrax, East Kalimantan has banned Makassar cattle from entering the province.

A health official here, Syaiful Akhyar, said he had distributed circulars to health offices in 13 regencies and cities to ban the import of beef from Makassar as well.