In the village of Magdalynovka, Atbasar District in the Akmola Region, five cases of anthrax infection have been identified. The source of the disease was contact with infected meat during the butchering of a carcass. All those affected are undergoing treatment in an infectious diseases hospital, and doctors assess their condition as stable.
According to the publication NayzaKokshe.kz, the first person admitted to the district hospital was a stockman from a local farm. He fell ill on 24 June but only sought medical help three days later, on 27 June. It is reported that the man was butchering the carcass of an infected animal for personal consumption. Subsequently, four other residents of the village were also found to be infected with anthrax.
"The patients' condition is stable. The relevant authorities have been brought in to conduct an investigation. We are carrying out all necessary anti-epidemic measures. The outbreak is being contained. However, certain conditions are required to declare a quarantine," commented the Minister of Health, Akmaral Alnazarova.
According to ORDA, more than ten other people have gone to hospital with similar symptoms; these cases are still being checked.
Meanwhile, the Department of Sanitary and Epidemiological Control of the Akmola Region stated that the site where the infected animals were slaughtered has been disinfected, and the remaining livestock was destroyed by burning.
According to the department, around 350 head of livestock were grazing on the territory of the Shunkirkol Rural District, which may have come into contact with the infected animals.
"They have now been placed in a pen and their movement has been restricted. Staff from the Department of Sanitary and Epidemiological Control and the Veterinary Control Committee are working at the site," the press service of the administration reported.
The Ministry of Agriculture has also joined the investigation and monitoring of the situation.
It will be recalled that earlier, the Minister of Agriculture, Aidarbek Saparov, stated that in various regions of Kazakhstan, burial sites of animals that died from anthrax, which do not meet sanitary and biological requirements, still exist.
As early as last spring, the editorial team of FBRK suggested that livestock burial sites that were flooded during the spring floods could pose a significant threat to Kazakh citizens. In this regard, we requested data from the Ministry of Agriculture on the number of flooded anthrax burial sites.
Back in April, the department reported that there were a total of 10 flooded anthrax burial sites across Kazakhstan, noting that laboratory tests of samples from these sites had come back negative and there was no threat of an epidemic.
Later, in May, the Ministry of Agriculture stated that 12 anthrax burial sites were now flooded. These included 3 sites in Aktobe and West Kazakhstan Region, and 6 sites in North Kazakhstan Region.
The Ministry, as before, assured there was no threat of an epidemic and noted that it was monitoring the epizootic situation in the country. The department stated at the time that regions were actively vaccinating animals against particularly dangerous diseases.
However, in August, following an outbreak of anthrax in cattle, a quarantine was introduced in the village of Prirechnoye in the Denisovka District of the Kostanay Region. Furthermore, there were rumours that meat from livestock that died during the floods was being ground into mince and sold at various catering outlets and markets. The Ministry of Agriculture refuted this information.
In early September, in the Ulken Aksu rural district of the Uygur District in the Almaty Region, a quarantine was introduced due to an anthrax outbreak. Four suspected cases of infection were recorded in the district. The preliminary cause of the disease was the involvement of local residents in the slaughter of a sick animal. Later, the number of those infected rose to 15 people.
In November, a livestock market in Atyrau was closed for quarantine following the discovery of anthrax in the carcass of a cow from the West Kazakhstan Region. Veterinary services tested the suspicious carcass four days after its discovery. Later, a cutaneous form of the disease was confirmed in a market worker.