SINGAPORE: China's ministry of health on Monday confirmed that there have been two cases of cutaneous anthrax in the eastern part of the country. According to health ministry spokesman Deng Haihua, speaking at a press conference on Monday, skin irritations have been discovered among 7 villagers in the Jiangsu Province believed to be anthrax in at least two of the patients. The symptoms of the other five villagers were not typical, “but they have also been placed under medical observation,” he said. “All 7 villagers are in stable, non-serious conditions,” he added. He continued to say that the ministry believes the 7 were infected after killing a sick cow. Cutaneous, or skin, anthrax is the least serious form of the disease. It is usually contracted when a person with a cut or sore on their skin comes into direct, unprotected contact with anthrax spores on a sick or dead animal. Health departments will raise the monitoring level on anthrax and “help educate local people about the disease,” the spokesman said. Agricultural departments were also informed of the events, he said. “We will closely follow the development of these cases and make sure the disease is under control,” he said.
