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Reports of five persons falling ill with suspected anthrax symptoms and cattle deaths in West Bengal have triggered panic in the state.
Anthrax anxiety is spreading among Bengalis following the death of a dozen cows in the Golsi area of Burdwan district, where five people had also taken ill with symptoms of the disease after eating contaminated beef.
But bacteriologists investigating blood samples of the five persons are asking the people not to worry.
The state government has also asked the people not to panic as it is still to be established whether the cattle had died from anthrax and the five people, being treated at Pursa health centre in Burdwan, had actually contracted the disease.
"We have no warning from the central intelligence agencies. I don't think we have any reason to panic. The matter is being investigated," Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya told reporters in Calcutta.
The source said the five showed external symptoms like fever, abrasions and sores on their skins and other anthrax-related traits.
Reports said local authorities had warned villagers not to eat the meat from the dead animals, but some did not heed the advice.
"We understand some 10-15 people, including those in hospital, had eaten the meat of the dead cows. We are making arrangements to collect blood samples from all of them," local medical official Mritunjay Mondal reportedly said.
"We can't say anything for sure without the results of the blood tests. So we ask people not to panic," Burdwan district health chief Pradyut Saha said, adding "The symptoms do agree with those of anthrax."
A state health ministry official told IANS that the department was keeping a close watch on the treatment of the five persons from Golsi.
State Poultry Farm Director B M Deowasi had admitted recently that '10-12 cows' had indeed died in Golsi from a dangerous viral or bacterial disease.
"We have taken precautions to prevent spread of the disease among the cattle population," he said.
Anthrax is not new to West Bengal, which reports deaths among animals from the disease almost every year. The cases are mostly reported from Purulia, Midnapore, Burdwan and Birbhum districts. But human casualty is a rarity.
Indo-Asian News Service
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