Date: Fri 17 Aug 2001 11:43:59
From: M. Cosgriff
Source: Reuters Health [edited]
CDC Reports First Human Anthrax Case Since 1992
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ATLANTA - A North Dakota man who handled anthrax-infected livestock during an outbreak last year has become the first human case of the illness in the US in nearly a decade, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta reported Thursday.
The last reported case of cutaneous anthrax in the US occurred in 1992. The 67-year-old North Dakota man is the only person known to have been infected during a livestock outbreak in the state last year. During the outbreak, 32 farms in North Dakota were quarantined, compared with an average of only 2 farms per year during the preceding 40 years.
The infected man had helped dispose of 5 cows that had died of anthrax 4 days before his symptoms appeared. He wore leather gloves, but the CDC researchers speculate that the man may have transferred infective anthrax spores that were on his gloves to broken skin on his face. "(The man) noticed a small bump on his left check at the angle of his jaw," CDC researchers write in the 17 Aug 2001 issue of the agency's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The lesion had enlarged to about the size of a quarter 2 days later and was surrounded by a purple ring, the report indicates. After antibiotics, the man's condition slowly improved. [14 days on 500 mg ciprofloxacin twice daily. - Mod.MHJ]
"In general, people should minimize the handling of animals that have died of anthrax. If possible, the animal should be burned where it lies," the CDC's Dr. David Ashford told Reuters Health. "Anyone that does handle an animal that has died of anthrax should be on the lookout for any unusual sores on the skin surfaces that were exposed to the carcass," he added. However, Ashford stressed that for most people the odds of contracting anthrax are quite low. "There is no great risk for the public or community in general," he said. "The risk for those handling these animals is for cutaneous anthrax exclusively, (and it) is a treatable disease with low mortality."
SOURCE: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 2001;50:677-680.
Human Anthrax Associated With an Epizootic Among Livestock --- North Dakota, 2000. Emma Hitt, PhD
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5032a1.htm
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