40 persons suspected of contracting anthrax in West Bengal district

Forty persons were suspected to have contracted anthrax in West Bengal's Bankura villages following which teams of dermatologists were rushed there, official said on Monday. 

The Chief medical officer, health, Prasun Kumar Das, today said that forty persons were affected in Simplipal block of Bakura district and two teams of dermatologists were being sent to Bamunpal and Ramakunda villages of the block from where villagers have reported death of cattle. The teams will collect samples and send them to Kolkata for examination, he said.

Meanwhile, Superintendent of Bankura Sammilani medical college hospital, Panchanan Kundu, dismissed media reports about anthrax that had claimed two lives in the state-run hospital. 40-year-old Lakshikanta Soren, who was admitted to the hospital on May 19, died of complications, arising out of convulsion after which he was admitted on the following day, he said.

Another patient, Raghunath Soren, died of pneumonia and septicaemia on May 21, Kundu said.

Anthrax is a bacterial disease that normally affects animals such as cattle and horses. It can be transmitted contracted by humans through the infected animal or products made from their body parts.