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While relatively rare in the Western world, six years ago in CDC: The 8 Zoonotic Diseases Of Most Concern In The United States, the U.S. One Health Zoonotic Disease Prioritization report ranked Anthrax as 2nd (after Zoonotic Influenza) on their disease of concern list.
- We've also seen warnings to avoid dead animals in the wild (see Texas DSHS Cautions Residents On Avoiding Sick or Dead Wildlife), and even human infection from the injection of contaminated drugs (see Eurosurveillance: Anthrax Encounters Of The 4th Kind).
- In 2021, we saw a report from China Reporting An Anthrax Outbreak In Shanxi Province involving 9 people who were involved in cattle breeding, slaughtering and selling.
- Recently (May 1st) the WHO reported on Scaling up response to anthrax outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo after 1 confirmed and 16 suspected cases turned up in North Kivu province.
- Late last week FluTrackers carried a media report of Thailand's first anthrax related death in decades, which suggested `hundreds' of other might have been exposed after consuming raw meat.
Yesterday the Bangkok Post reported the `official' toll was 3 infected, with 1 death - but 98 others were `still at risk'. More than 600 people have reportedly been provided with prophylactic doxycycline.
While there is no indication of a spillover into neighboring countries, given these recent reports - and last year's outbreak in Laos - today Cambodia's MOH released the following guidance to the public.
(translation)
Kingdom of Cambodia, Nation, Religion, King
Ministry of Health
Press Release
Protecting Yourself from Bacillus Anthracis Infection
The Ministry of Health of the Kingdom of Cambodia would like to inform the public that when
Recently, there have been outbreaks in neighboring countries and in some countries of anthracnose, or human venom, and in animals, anthrax, or leukemia, caused by bacteria that produce spore-forming bacillus anthracis. Anthrax, or charcoal poisoning, is a rare but serious disease that can occur primarily in livestock and wildlife. Anthracnose bacteria can withstand the effects of outdoor weather for up to 30-40 years in soil, animal carcasses and manure.
Cattle grazing on cattle, sheep, goats, and horses can transmit the virus to their bodies, which then become infected and release their venom, which is harmful to health. Anthrax has medicines and vaccines for vaccination. To date, the disease has not been detected in the Kingdom of Cambodia. The Ministry of Health continues to strengthen health measures at border crossings and strengthen cooperation with relevant ministries to prevent the import of anthrax and other infectious diseases from abroad.
People can be infected with anthrax through:
- Direct contact with sick animals (sharp skin as a gateway to the virus) or through the killing of animals infected with anthrax or products of anthracnose-like animals such as flesh, hair, bones
- Inhalation of anthrax-containing dust
- Eating meat with anthrax
- Share needles and syringes with people with anthrax
- Anthrax is not transmitted from person to person, but skin lesions on anthrax patients can be highly contagious.
There are three types of symptoms:
Skin appearance:
- Skin-borne infections, cuts or wounds, direct contact with infected animals
- Infection lasts from 1 to 7 days after anthrax infection
- An itchy, insect-like lump then turns painful with a black spot on the face, swollen hands, swollen lymph nodes. Some infected people have symptoms such as headache, muscle aches, fever and vomiting.
Stomach-intestinal shape:
Infections through eating steroids, such as eating anthrax
The duration of infection is from 2 to 5 days.
Initial symptoms include food poisoning, but may include abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, blood, severe diarrhea, bloody diarrhea, fever, chills, swollen lymph nodes, sore throat, sore throat, headache, red face, red eyes, fainting
Respiratory type:
- Severe but rare
- Caused by eating contaminated meat, anthrax or inhaling large amounts of germs into the lungs.
- The duration of infection is from 1 to 6 days.
- Symptoms are similar to the flu, but quickly progress to shortness of breath, vomiting, nausea and abdominal pain, headache, sweating, extreme fatigue, and chest pain, which may include blood clots in the heart, bleeding in the valves between the lungs, and the skin turns purple.
Infection prevention measures:
- Avoid direct contact with animals suspected of having anthrax.
- Do not eat animals that die of anthrax.
- Dead carcasses must be buried or cremated.
- Do not autopsy corpses.
- Must send the suspect to the hospital immediately for timely treatment or contact 115.
The Ministry of Health will continue to provide information on public health issues through the Ministry of Health's official social media, as well as the Department of Infectious Diseases' official Facebook page and website www.cdcmoh.gov.kh.
For more information, please contact the Ministry of Health's emergency hotline number 115 toll-free.
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Ministry of Health
