Suspected anthrax patients to be tested at IEDCR

Eleven suspected patients of rare disease anthrax will be sent to the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) in Mohakhali in Dhaka today for undergoing tests there.
All the patients were attacked with the disease at Gala village in Ghatail upazila.
Villagers said, Sujat Ali slaughtered one his sick cows and processed the meat with the help of his family members and several neighbours on April 6 last and distributed the meat among his relatives and others.
After 24 hours, 11 people including women and children, who did the job of cutting and washing the meat suffered infections on different parts of their bodies including hands and legs followed by itches and pain, locals said.
The infected people are Joinal Talukder, 28, Sujat Ali, 42, Babu Talukder, 40, Jamila Begum, 60, Renu Begum, 45, Jharna Khatun, 22, Mishu, 12, Choity, 17, Sonia, 13, Shakil, 14, and Hasan, 7.
They went to Ghatail upazila health complex for treatment and doctors there gave them antibiotic presuming the disease as an ordinary infection.
The patients, however, became anxious as the infections were not cured after two weeks of treatment, sources said.
Being informed, a team of doctors visited the patients at the village and suspected the disease as anthrax, said Mohammad Emranul Alam, upazila health and family planning officer in Ghatail.
The patients will undergo several tests at IEDCR to diagnose the disease, said Tangail civil surgeon Dr Abdul Basit yesterday.