Anthrax claim two in Orissa, India

Anthrax :: Anthrax claim two in Orissa, India

Two persons have died and four others are battling for their lives after being infected by anthrax in Orissa's tribal Koraput district, official sources said.

The dead belonged to Phulab and Padulguda villages of Similiguda block, the sources said.

The district health authorities rushed to the affected villages and found four others sufferring from the disease. They were taken to the nearby hospital, Koraput chief district medical officer (CDMO) K H Reddy said.

He said though there was no full-proof investigating machinery, it was confirmed clinically that the two persons died of anthrax.

He told PTI that the spread of anthrax was not new in the area and people die almost every year in Similiguda, Narayanpatna, Lamtaput and Boipariguda blocks. The food habit of the local Kondh and Dama tribes who consume decomposed beef is to blame for the occurance of the disease.

The people affected by the disease develop abnormal swellings in their skin and boils. They die within three days if not given proper treatment, Reddy said.

The CDMO said government's efforts to create awareness among the people so that they do not consume flesh of dead animals were not being heeded by the tribal population.