More threated for possible anthrax

Theresia Sufa, The Jakarta Post, Bogor

Two more people from the village of Citaringul, a woman and nine- year-old girl, were admitted to the Cibinong Hospital on Sunday after they ate goat meat suspected of being infected with anthrax.

Erna Aryanti, 9, and Siti Mariam, 44, are the 10th and 11th people suspected of contracting anthrax after eating the meat from a sick goat on Oct. 14, a day before the beginning of Ramadhan. Six of the 11 people who ate the meat have died.

"We are still studying if the last two patients died because of anthrax," a doctor with the hospital, Wahju Kurdijanti, said. Blood samples from the patients were being examined by the Veterinary Research Agency, he said.

However, new Minister of Agriculture Anton Apriyanto had no doubts the disease was anthrax. On a visit to the district on Sunday, he ordered the burning of goat pens and the slaughter of all goats in the district in an effort to eradicate the fatal virus.

"I don't want more villagers fall victim to anthrax. I don't want this case to reoccur. This problem has been going on for quite some time so I have asked the relevant agencies to take action," he said.

Anton, a former lecturer with the Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB) in Babakan Madang, said anthrax had been endemic in the area for some time. The district should be quarantined to stop the spread of disease, he said.

"Officials must inform villagers that they should not consume sick cattle because it is very risky. They must also vaccinate other cattle that have not yet been infected by anthrax," he said.

Data from the Bogor Health Agency recorded that since 2001, 47 people have suffered from anthrax in the area and 11 people have died, including the last six fatalities.

Agency head Djono Kardjoeki said a special investigation had concluded about 60 Citaringul villagers were suffering from anthrax. Twenty-two of the villagers had recovered from the disease, he said.