Anthrax Confirmed in India's Gujarat State
INDIA - Authorities in India's western Gujarat state began vaccinating cattle on Sunday after a sample from a dead cow tested positive for anthrax, news reports said. Seven cows have died over the past week in Bagdana village in Bhavnagar district of Gujarat, about 250 kilometres south of the state's main city Ahmedabad, PTI news agency reported.
16 June 2008
1 minute read
According to Earth Times an outbreak of anthrax was confirmed on Friday after a sample from one of the dead animals tested positive for the deadly disease.
Health officials have formed teams to diagnose anthrax infection among humans and began administering antibiotics as a preventive measure to people who kept cattle in the vicinity of their homes, Bhavnagar district collector Pradeep Saha said.
"Vaccination of all animals has been started in Bagdana village since this morning. We have six to seven teams of doctors who are going door-to-door and administering vaccine to the animals," Saha said.
He said the vaccine would be administered to all animals which were more than two years old.
"We are constantly monitoring the situation here. We have experts from Health and Animal Husbandry Departments advising people on how to avoid anthrax infection," he added.
At least two people and dozens of cattle died of anthrax in India's eastern state of Orissa last week, while more than 20 people had fallen ill, reported Earth Times.
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