Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Shandilya, Jyoti
• Parai, Debaprasad
• Choudhary, Hari Ram
• Kshatri, Jaya Singh
• Padhy, Biren Kumar
• Pradhan, Padma Mohan
• Saket, Deepika
• Peter, Annalisha
• Pattnaik, Matrujyoti
• Padhi, Arun Kumar
• Pati, Sanghamitra
• Bhattacharya, Debdutta

Titel

Suspected human anthrax outbreak investigation in a tribal village of Koraput, India, 2021

Ist Teil von

• Public health challenges, 2023-12, Vol.2 (4), p.n/a

Ort / Verlag

Wiley

Erscheinungsjahr

2023

Quelle

Access via Wiley Online Library

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Background Odisha is a state in India endemic to anthrax disease with frequent reports of suspected animal cases. A suspected outbreak of anthrax in humans was reported on 24 October 2021 at Tukum village in Koraput district of Odisha, India after a bullock was found dead and consumed by the locals on 17 October 2021. Methods This extended outbreak investigation was carried out through house‐to‐house active surveillance from 24 October to 2 November 2021 in the Koraput district. Eschar skin swabs from wounds were collected and processed at District Public Health Laboratory, Koraput, and analyzed in Indian Council of Medical Research‐Regional Medical Research Centre, Bhubaneswar for molecular confirmation. Samples from bone, soil, and dried meat were collected from the contaminated sites and were transported to Animal Diseases Research Institute, Cuttack for confirmation. Results Four suspected cases of human anthrax were identified who had handled and consumed dead bullock meat, among which one human had died later. The attack rate of the persons at risk in the village was calculated to be 1.23%. However, no Bacillus anthracis were identified in human swab samples when tested in real‐time polymerase chain reaction. Samples collected from contaminated sites were confirmed to have anthrax bacilli. Conclusion Investigation revealed that a suspected anthrax cluster outbreak was due to butchering/de‐skinning and consumption of the anthrax‐infected dead animal. The presence of bacilli in human samples could not be confirmed due to the intake of antibiotics before the collection of sample. This finding highlighted the importance of sample collection at a suitable time and a possible need for one health approach for better coordination among the different responsible departments. A suspected human anthrax outbreak was notified in the Koraput district of Odisha, India in October 2021. Routine surveillance, timely vaccination of livestock, and proper disposal of livestock carcasses are the most efficient ways of preventing and controlling anthrax infection in domestic herds.