67 people hospitalized with suspected anthrax in Kenya
Sixty-seven people, including 34 children have been hospitalized in Igembe North, Kenya after apparently consuming an anthrax-tainted cow, according to a report in The Star today.
According to the report, Area district public health officer John Kaberenge says the owner slaughtered the ill cow and sold the meat at a cheap price to residents after a veterinary officer failed to treat it.
Kenya map source/CIA
Anthrax is a pathogen in livestock and wild animals. Some of the more common herbivores are cattle, sheep, goats, horses, camels and deers.
Anthrax is a very serious disease of livestock because it can potentially cause the rapid loss of a large number of animals in a very short time. Affected animals are often found dead with no illness detected.
Related story: Kenya: Anthrax outbreak kills more than 100 animals at Lake Nakuru National Park
It infects humans primarily through occupational or incidental exposure with infected animals of theirskins.
Anthrax is caused by the bacterium, Bacillus anthracis. This spore forming bacteria can survive in the environment for years because of its ability to resist heat, cold, drying, etc. this is usually the infectious stage of anthrax.
When conditions become favorable, the spores germinate into colonies of bacteria. An example would be a grazing cow ingests spores that in the cow, germinate, grow spread and eventually kill the animal.
The bacteria will form spores in the carcass and then return to the soil to infect other animals. The vegetative form is rarely implicated in transmission.
There are no reports of person-to-person transmission of anthrax. People get anthrax by handling contaminated animal or animal products, consuming undercooked meat of infected animals and more recently, intentional release of spores.
There are three types of human anthrax with differing degrees of seriousness: cutaneous, gastrointestinal and inhalation.
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