Four more infected by 'Anthrax'

Four more people of Pabna's Chhoto Pathail village have been infected with the suspected Anthrax raising the number to 30, district health department sources confirmed yesterday.
Santhia upazila Health Officer Monsurul Alam told The Daily Star that the civil surgeon along with medical officials concerned visited the village on Tuesday and identified the infected -- Chumki, 4, Lovely, 8, Abdul Bari, 42, and Hossain Ali, 55.
Earlier on August 27, specialists from Dhaka visited Chhoto Pathail and collected specimen of blood and skin tissues from a few among another 26 infected villagers for laboratory tests in Dhaka.
Meanwhile the district health and livestock departments formed respective teams to keep an eye on the Anthrax threat. The livestock department vaccinated at least 450 cows in the affected village to check the spread of the disease, official sources said.
Upazila health department sources said condition of a woman is critical but overall situation is improving.
Dr AHM Md Khairul Alam Chowdhury, the civil surgeon of Pabna, told the Daily Star yesterday, “The situation is improving and we are waiting for the test results.”