Thailand reports first anthrax death in decades
A 53-year-old man in Mukdahan province died from the highly dangerous livestock disease, with authorities confirming a second case and investigating three more suspected infections.
The dead man had been exposed after a cow was slaughtered during a religious ceremony, according to early investigations.
The meat was later distributed and consumed within the village.
Authorities identified at least 638 people as being potentially exposed, including 36 who had taken part in butchering livestock, while the rest had consumed raw or undercooked beef.
'All individuals who may have been in contact with infected meat are being monitored,' the health ministry said.
Meanwhile the United Nations said Democratic Republic of Congo was battling its own outbreak, which had killed one person.
Medics found 16 suspected cases and one confirmed human case in the country's North Kivu Province, which has been blighted by violence and has this year seen the M23 rebel group make sweeping gains.
Anthrax is caused by a spore-forming bacteria called Bacillus anthracis and typically affects cows, sheep and goats but can also spread to people.
The bacteria produce potent toxins which are responsible for the symptoms.
The most common form is anthrax of the skin, when spores get into cuts or scratches, leading to black bumpy sores, headaches, muscle aches, fever and vomiting.
Gastrointestinal anthrax is caught from eating meat from an infected animal and can lead to severe abdominal pain, vomiting of blood and severe diarrhoea.
The rarest and most severe form of human anthrax is when the spores reach the lungs, which can cause severe breathing problems. Inhaled anthrax, if untreated, can have a fatality rate as high as 90 per cent.
Thai officials said the dead man was a construction worker with underlying diabetes. He developed a lesion on his right hand on April 24 and was hospitalised three days later.
As his symptoms got worse, his wound turned black, his lymph nodes swelled up in his armpit and he began fainting and having seizures.
Globally, there are thought to be a few thousand human cases each year. This week's death was the first anthrax fatality in Thailand since 1994.
Thailand last reported human anthrax cases in 2017, when two people were infected without fatalities. In 2000, 15 cases were recorded, also without deaths.
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