NewsDesk @bactiman63

Two people were hospitalized with anthrax in Chuvashia, Tsivilsky municipal district, according to the Minister of Health of the Republic Vladimir Stepanov.

Bacillus anthracis bacteria
Image/CDC

“As of March 15, two patients with a laboratory-confirmed diagnosis of anthrax were hospitalized in the Chuvash Republic. They receive all the necessary specific treatment. The therapeutic prognosis is favorable,” he said.

The head of the republic, Oleg Nikolaev, said “The more than 130 contacts with those infected are healthy, are under constant medical supervision, and receive preventive treatment,” he wrote on his Telegram account.

In addition, Nikolaev signed a decree yesterday introducing a quarantine for the territory:

“Establish restrictive measures (quarantine) for anthrax in the territory of the epizootic focus, the disadvantaged point and the threatened zone … from March 16, 2023 until further notice. Determine the epizootic focus within the territory of the personal subsidiary plot located at the village of Staroe Aktashevo, street Zaprudnaya, house 18”.

Anthrax is a bacterial pathogen in livestock and wild animals. Ruminants such as bison, cattle, sheep and goats are highly susceptible, and horses can also be infected.

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.

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 bacterium, Bacillus anthracis. This spore forming bacteria can survive in the environment for decades because of its ability to resist heat, cold, drying, etc. This is usually the infectious stage of anthrax.

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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.

Giant microbes