An anthrax control centre will be set up on Wednesday in Don Tarn district of the northeastern province of Mukdahan to handle the distribution of medication to people who are at high risk of exposure to the disease. They will also be monitored for 60 days.
One person has died from anthrax in the province recently and 636 other people, who have eaten raw meat, were under observation. 538 of these have, however, been declared clear of the infectious disease, which is transmissible from infected cattle, goats or sheep to humans or can be contracted through inhalation of the airborne spores of the bacterium.
Tassanathep Rakpitakkul, village head of Ban Kok Sawang, where the anthrax control centre is to be established, said that villagers are very concerned that they may become infected, because they have been in contact with slaughtered cattle.
He added that the villagers are demanding an answer from officials about the origin of the anthrax in their district.
Meanwhile, Public Health Minister Somsak Thepsuthin has ordered the Disease Control Department to increase vigilance for anthrax, to ensure that it does not spread out of the district.
It is reported that the Lao government has banned the import or transit through Laos to Vietnam of cattle and other animals from Thailand, while the Livestock Development Department may shut down the cattle markets in north-eastern provinces, as a precautionary measure to prevent the spread of anthrax.
