The frequent cases of Anthrax reported in four blocks of Simdega since a couple of months have proded Health and Animal Husbandry departments to carry effective awareness and medication programmes. The recent symptoms of the fatal cattle disease were noticed among six people of Kondigi village of Thethaitangar block on Friday.
In Basartoli village of the same block, one person named Emil Dungdung died last week. Two more persons died in Kolebira block near this block in the month of May.
“Symptoms of anthrax are found after consuming dead animal meat. It first affected Simdega in 2014. Again from May, we are receiving cases related to the same. It is obvious people in particular blocks of the district are eating dead meat,” said State Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) Director Dr Ramesh Kumar Prasad. “Patients are being kept in isolation. Hundreds of Sahiyas trained by us are spreading awareness among residents of Kolebira, Thethaitangar and two more blocks affected by anthrax on how to prevent it,” Prasad added.
Meanwhile, State Programme Coordinator (Sahiya Programme) Akshay Minz pointed on the awareness campaigns and medicine distribution. “The District Administration teams in Bolba block are providing medicines in the Community Health Centres for getting rid of the disease. Pamphlets showing the precautions from anthrax are being circulated among the villagers in various blocks. A large number of animals must have eaten the grass containing a parasite of bacterium Bacillus anthracis in Simdega,” pointed Minz.
The alarming animal infected situation was accepted by Rajnikant Tirkey, the Director of Animal Husbandry Directorate. “Yes, most animals of Simdega are eating such a parasite. Five teams of our department are working on the vaccination programmes of all kinds of animals in each block of Simdega over one and half months. People must avoid eating dead animals and should not handle infected carcasses,” said Tirkey.
Efforts made to contact Simdega Deputy Commissioner SS Meena and Civil Surgeon D Benedict Minz went in vain as their phone numbers were not reachable. As cases are rising, Health Department is conducting door-to-door survey to find people gripped with the disease, claimed Dr Prasad. “Case search is going on,” confirmed Health Department Principal Secretary K Vidyasagar.