• Thailand has reported its first anthrax-related death in decades with two infections nationwide.

• A 53-year-old man in Mukdahan province, in northeastern Thailand near the border with Laos, died on April 30 after contracting anthrax, the government said, with a second case confirmed in the same province and three additional suspected cases under investigation.

• The fatal case marks Thailand’s first anthrax death since 1994.

• Authorities have identified at least 638 people as being potentially exposed after eating raw meat. Among them, 36 had participated in butchering livestock while the rest had consumed raw or undercooked beef. 

• All are receiving antibiotics as part of containment measures.

• The Livestock Department is overseeing containment efforts in the affected area, including a 5-km quarantine zone around the infection site.

• Thailand last reported human anthrax cases in 2017, when two people were infected without fatalities. In 2000, 15 cases were recorded, also without deaths.

What is anthrax?

• Anthrax is a bacterial infection that mainly affects animals. It is caused by the spore-forming bacteria called Bacillus anthracis.

• It is a zoonosis (disease transmissible from animals to humans) that typically affects ruminants (such as cows, sheep, and goats). 

• The bacteria produce extremely potent toxins which are responsible for the symptoms, causing a high lethality rate. 

• People can get the disease directly or indirectly from infected animals, or through exposure to infected or contaminated animal products. 

• Anthrax spores may remain dormant in the soil for long periods and resurface when the soil is disturbed, such as by flooding, torrential rains or landslides. The disease typically reappears when the spores are then ingested by grazing ruminants.

Types of anthrax:

• The disease has three forms in humans, all needing prompt medical attention.

i) The most common is cutaneous anthrax, which happens when spores come into contact with broken skin, causing an itchy bump that turns into a black sore. This form can also lead to headaches, muscle aches, fever, and vomiting. 

ii) Gastrointestinal anthrax occurs from eating infected meat, causing food poisoning-like symptoms that can worsen to severe stomach pain, bloody vomiting, and diarrhoea. 

iii) The rarest and most serious form is inhalation anthrax, which results from breathing in the spores, starting with cold-like symptoms before rapidly leading to severe breathing problems and shock. All human cases of anthrax require hospitalisation.  

• The disease is treatable with antibiotics, which need to be prescribed by a medical professional. Vaccines exist for livestock and humans. However, human vaccines are in limited supply and used primarily for protection of selected individuals with possible occupational exposure to anthrax.

(The author is a trainer for Civil Services aspirants.)