According to CCTV News:
Recently, the seventh-level town of Yanggu County, Liaocheng City, Shandong
Individual cases of anthrax were detected at a beef cattle farm
A case of anthrax has been detected at a farm in Shandong
Five infected people have been isolated for treatment
The local farm was immediately closed, and all livestock animals in the farm were culled and harmless, and the farm and the surrounding environment were comprehensively sanitize and monitored, and no other positive livestock were found, and related livestock products did not enter the market circulation. At the same time, we will comprehensively carry out the flow investigation, sampling and testing and symptom monitoring of sick animals.
As of 10 a.m. on August 2, 5 farm workers who were in direct contact with sick animals were diagnosed with cutaneous anthrax, with mild symptoms, and all of them have been isolated and treated.
About anthrax
Read these prevention and control knowledge
It is understood that cutaneous anthrax is a zoonotic infectious disease, which can be prevented, controlled and treated, and human-to-human transmission is very rare.
What is anthrax?
Anthrax is an animal-borne disease caused by Bacillus anthracis, cattle, sheep and other animals are generally infected with Bacillus anthracis in the soil orally when eating grass, and spread and continue between animals, infecting humans under certain conditions.
According to the different routes of infection, human anthrax can be divided into three main primary types: cutaneous anthrax, pulmonary anthrax and intestinal anthrax, with cutaneous anthrax being the most common, mostly sporadic cases, pulmonary anthrax and intestinal anthrax have a high mortality rate, and sometimes cause anthrax sepsis and meningitis.
What are the clinical manifestations of anthrax?
- Cutaneous anthrax is the most common type, accounting for more than 95% of all cases. Cutaneous anthrax is more common in exposed areas such as face, neck, shoulders, hands and feet; The main manifestations are edema, macules or papules, vesicles, ulcers, and eschars of the local skin; The pain is not obvious, there is a slight itching sensation, and there is no abscess formation. Prompt treatment has a case fatality rate of less than 1%.
- Pulmonary anthrax begins as a "flu-like" symptom with low-grade fever, fatigue, malaise, myalgia, and cough, usually lasting about 48 hours. Then it suddenly develops into an acute condition with respiratory distress, shortness of breath, wheezing, cough, cyanosis, hemoptysis, etc. Coma and death can occur rapidly, and the mortality rate can reach more than 90%.
- Intestinal anthrax may present as an acute enteritic or acute abdomen. The acute enteritic form may present with nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and diarrhea. Patients with acute abdomen have severe symptoms of systemic poisoning, persistent vomiting and diarrhea, bloody and watery stools, abdominal distension, abdominal pain, and often complicated by sepsis and septic shock.
Will human-to-human transmission occur?
Anthrax is mainly related to related occupational groups, including cattle and sheep breeding, slaughtering and trafficking personnel, veterinarians, or people engaged in the processing of cattle and sheep products.
Anthrax is a Class B infectious disease stipulated in the Law on the Prevention and Control of People's Republic of China Infection, of which pulmonary anthrax is managed according to Class A infectious diseases, but it is not easy to spread between people, and the probability of being infected by contact with patients is extremely low.
Although anthrax is not very contagious from person to person, it does not mean that there is no danger. The patient's effluent can cause stubborn environmental contamination that can infect livestock and, in turn, humans. Therefore, the mainland stipulates that anthrax patients must be treated in isolation.
How can it be prevented?
The official website of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention once published an article "How far is anthrax from us?" It mentions that anthrax can be prevented and treated, and the most important point to prevent anthrax is not to contact the source of infection.
The source of anthrax infection is mainly sick and dead animals, and if it is found that cattle, sheep and other animals are sick or die suddenly, and they do not touch, do not slaughter, do not eat, and do not buy and sell, immediately report to the local animal husbandry and veterinary department, and the department will deal with it.
Relevant departments should strengthen the quarantine and supervision of livestock circulation and slaughtering, as well as the punishment of illegal acts. Personnel engaged in slaughtering and fur processing should wear masks and gloves during operation to avoid possible pathogenic bacteria through the skin or inhalation of infection.
Consumers should buy beef and mutton products from formal channels, subject to quarantine and food safety guarantees, and cook them thoroughly before eating.
Anthrax can be effectively treated with antibiotics, with penicillin being the drug of choice.
Source | The news workshop integrates CCTV news and Guangxi disease control
Edit | Jin Yingying