Residents shift from panic to complacency over anthrax

Novan Iman Santosa, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Residents are urged not to panic over the recent anthrax case in Bogor because the disease is curable when spotted at an early stage.

"Penicillin can cure humans and cattle infected with anthrax in the early stage," dean of the veterinary science faculty at the Bogor Institute of Agriculture, Sachrian Hasmi Pasaribu, told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

"Even infected cattle can be totally cured and be safe to slaughter. There is really no need to worry. It is not an outbreak, it is only an isolated case. But we must be alert," he added.

In the latest case, six workers were infected with anthrax at a cattle-breeding farm in Bogor's Kebon Pedes area in Tanah Sareal district.

According to Sachrian, it was also not necessary to close all existing cattle-breeding farms in the region even though Bogor is one of West Java's endemic areas for anthrax together with Bekasi, Depok, Karawang and Subang.

"Indeed it is difficult to destroy anthrax spores but we can prevent them entering the cattle by routine vaccinations every six months.

"Once the cattle have stronger antibodies, we can vaccinate them yearly instead of every six months.

He, however, underlined that it needed strong discipline from all related parties to avoid another anthrax case.

"It needs a high level of discipline from both breeders and veterinary health officials to keep the cattle protected through routine vaccinations.

"We also need participation of the public in reporting any possible infection," said Sachrian.

Most of the time, breeders are reluctant to have their cattle vaccinated while the veterinary health officials may not be able reach all cattle farms.

Sachrian said the bacillus anthracis, which caused anthrax, was not that dangerous as long as it was still contained in the infected body.

"That's why infected cattle must not be slaughtered as the bacteria may form spores. Even a single slice may cause the bacteria to develop into spores.

"The infected cattle (that have died) should be burned or buried with lime. The bacteria will die together along with the decomposition of the carcass."

Spores, however, on an alarming note, could live for up to 30 years.

The latest anthrax case has received mixed reactions from the Bogor residents themselves. Some are concerned, while others are not really perturbed by the case although they have taken some precautionary measures.

Erry Moestafa, who lives in Central Bogor, said he and his family would keep consuming beef as there was no official warning to do otherwise.

But Bernardus Wijayaka said his family has not eaten beef for two months, and now prefers to eat chicken and fish.

"My neighbors were quite confused whether to consume beef or not. But now we all have calmed down.

"They were worried because we live not far from the infected cattle farm. It's about two kilometers from our neighborhood," said Bernardus, who lives in Kedung Badak area.

Earlier on Tuesday, the West Java Animal Husbandry Agency warned all residents living within a five-kilometer radius of the infected farm to keep alert.

Meanwhile, local restaurateurs claimed that business was not affected by the latest anthrax case in the mayoralty while some residents avoided eating beef.

Kamal of Simpang Raya Padang restaurant said that his business was not affected although he used local beef, as the supplier bought them from certified shops with health certificates.

Pasadena Resto and Grill uses meat from New Zealand. Its manager, Rio said there had been no decrease in the number of guests.

Bogor Steamboat Sukiyaki also uses meat from New Zealand and reported a stable number of patrons although it was located near the infected breeding farm.

In Jakarta, while playing down the possibility of an anthrax outbreak in cattle here, the City Husbandry Agency said it had finished taking samples from the city's slaughterhouses and markets for laboratory testing.

"We will know the results next week," Naniek S., head of the agency's animal disease monitoring, prevention and eradication unit, said Thursday.