By NewsDesk  @infectiousdiseasenews

For the first time in twenty years, the Eastern European country of Belarus has reported an animal anthrax case.

Image/Alexas_Fotos

Earlier this week, Dr. Ivan Smilhin, Deputy Minister, Director, Veterinary and Food Supervision, Ministry of Agriculture and Food in Minsk, Belarus reported the case of  equine anthrax to the World Organisation for Animal Health.

The case was reported on a farm in the Stolin district of the Brest region. The animal belonged to a resident of the village of Khotomel, according to Russian media.

The last human anthrax case in Belarus was in 1995.

Anthrax is a bacterial pathogen in livestock and wild animals. Some of the more common herbivores are cattle, sheep,goats, horses, camels and deer. 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.

It infects humans primarily through occupational or incidental exposure with infected animals of their skins.

Bacillus anthracis bacteria
Image/CDC

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. Anthrax is caused by the bacteriumBacillus 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.

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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.  Strict enforcement of quarantines and proper burning and burying of carcasses from livestock suspected to have died from anthrax is important to prevent further soil contamination with the bacterial spores.

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: cutaneousgastrointestinal and inhalation.