Anthrax threat in Indonesia
Six people recently die in a village near Jakarta.
Jakarta (AsiaNews) In the last few days, six people died in the village of Bogor, 60 km from Jakarta, in anthrax outbreak. Local medical authorities and experts from the Bogor Agriculture Institute confirmed the incident today. Anxiety rose further after a 9-year girl and a 44-year-old woman were hospitalised in Cibinong for suspected anthrax infection. With the latest cases, the number of suspected anthrax-infected people reached 11. All of them are thought to have eaten diseased goat meat.
"We think that the two women were infected with the deadly anthrax," Dr Julianti Julia, director of Cibinong Hospital said. The two women exhibit the typical symptoms of the disease: vomiting and heavy dizziness.
To stop the virus Indonesia's new agriculture minister Anton Apriyanto, who was visiting Bogor yesterday, ordered the culling of the suspected herds and the inoculation of those still disease-free. "Anthrax affected this area in the past and I don't want any further loss of life," the minister said. He plans to have the village placed under quarantine and local authorities inform the residents about risk factors. Above all, authorities are to tell local people not to eat infected meat.
According to Bogor health authorities, there were 47 cases of anthrax between 2001 and 2004. If the six victims of the last few days are taken into account, the total death toll now stands at 11.
Anthrax is an acute infectious disease that typically affects livestock but which may be transmitted to humans through exposure to infected animals, either through handling, eating infected meat or inhaling spores from contaminated material.
Physical contact may bring about mild infections but inhaled the anthrax virus can cause a quick death if it is rapidly diagnosed.
If done in time, administering vaccine and antibiotics can bring naturally-occurring anthrax under control. The real danger lies with genetically-modified anthrax. Till now, there is no protection against it. Any anti-anthrax vaccine is still decades away.
After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, several letters containing spores of deadly anthrax were found in the US.
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25/07/2005
