Worry in Tharaka-Nithi as three admitted with suspected anthrax

News & Politics
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TUESDAY JANUARY 1 2019

https://www.nation.co.ke/image/view/-/4917266/highRes/2212667/-/maxw/600/-/8pjqhbz/-/Anthrax+patient.jpg
Njagi Mbaka at Chuka County Referral Hospital in Tharaka-Nithi County, where he was treated for anthrax, January 1, 2019. PHOTO | ALEX NJERU | NATION MEDIA GROUP
In Summary
[ul]
[li]The three were taken to Chuka County Referral Hospital while 10 were examined at various facilities and discharged.[/li][li]Many others were said to be nursing symptoms at their homes in parts including Mitheru and Ndagani.[/li][li]County Health Director, Dr Tony Njoka, told the Nation that the situation was worsening as people were still eating the meat of cows that had been sick.[/li][li]Agriculture executive Jasper Nkanya said he sent livestock officers to affected areas in a bid to arrest the situation.[/li][/ul]
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https://www.nation.co.ke/image/view/-/3454368/medRes/1489621/-/fayca1z/-/Alex+Njeru_img.jpg[B]By ALEX NJERU[/B]
More by this Author
Three Tharaka-Nithi residents have been admitted in critical condition after eating the meat of cow believed to have been infected with anthrax.
The three were taken to Chuka County Referral Hospital while at least 10 were examined at various facilities and discharged. Many others were said to be nursing symptoms at their homes in parts including Mitheru and Ndagani.
FEAR
County Health Director, Dr Tony Njoka, told theNation that the situation was worsening as people were still eating the meat of cows that had been sick.
Dr Njoka said they also do not want to seek treatment.
“We visited one of the affected villages on Monday to appeal to them to seek treatment but most ran away and hid in the bushes,” he said.
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He added that the agriculture department recently immunised animals but that the numbers were low.
Residents say they do not have money for the immunisation and that the centres are too far away.
The doctor noted that those who sought medical care early enough were improving so the others should follow suit. He promised the sick will not be arrested.
Agriculture executive Jasper Nkanya said he sent livestock officers to affected areas in a bid to arrest the situation.
He advised residents to always report cases to county livestock officers and shun quacks as they mislead them.
In Chuka in October, one person died while many were treated under similar circumstances.
PATIENT ACCOUNTS
Speaking to the Nation from his hospital bed, Derick Kithinji from Mitheru village in Maara Constituency said one of his hands got swollen after the had beef on December 23.
Mr Kithinji went to hospital three days later.
“Those who come into contact with blood are the most affected,” he said, adding that an unspecified number of people visited Muthambi Health Centre.
He said many with swollen hands and eyes were hiding in their homes, fearing arrest for eating uninspected meat.
Njagi Mbaka, a patient from Ndagani, said he came into contact with the blood of a cow while skinning it.
In the episode a week ago, his hand and other parts of his body got swollen.
“I was in a very bad condition … I have improved," he said, adding that when cows dies in the villages, residents hardly call veterinary officers for inspections.
He said that in Mitheru alone, hundred of goats and at least 80 cows have died since August last year
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@Mworia Wameru please check in

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VC, many people may not know what anthrax is.

[SIZE=6]What is anthrax?[/SIZE]

Anthrax is a rare infectious disease caused by the bacterium Bacillus anthracis. Anthrax occurs naturally around the world in wild and domestic hoofed animals, especially cattle, sheep, goats, camels and antelopes. It can also occur in humans when they are exposed to the bacterium, usually through handling animals or animal hides. There are three forms of anthrax infection: cutaneous (skin), inhalation (lungs) and gastrointestinal (stomach and intestine). If people have been intentionally exposed, as in a bioterrorist release, contact with skin would be the most likely route of exposure. Breathing in the spores that have been spread through the air could cause inhalation anthrax.

[SIZE=6]How common is anthrax and who can get it? [/SIZE]

Anthrax can be found around the world. It is most common in agricultural regions where it occurs in animals. It is more common in developing countries or countries without veterinary public health programs. Anthrax is reported more often in some regions of the world (South and Central America, Southern and Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, the Caribbean and the Middle East) than in others. It has been extremely rare in the United States in recent decades, and until cases in Florida and New York City in 2001, has been limited to the cutaneous (skin) form. When anthrax affects humans, it is usually due to an occupational exposure to infected animals or their products. However, anthrax is considered to be one of a number of potential agents for use in biological terrorism.

[SIZE=6]How is anthrax spread? [/SIZE]

Anthrax is usually spread in the form of a spore. (A spore is a dormant form that certain bacteria take when they have no food supply. Spores can grow and cause disease when better conditions are present, as in the human body.) Anthrax is generally spread in one of three ways. Most persons who are exposed to anthrax become ill within one week but can take as long as 42 days for inhalation anthrax:

[ul]
[li]Skin (cutaneous) - Most anthrax infections occur when people touch contaminated animal products like wool, bone, hair and hide. The infection occurs when the bacteria enters a cut or scratch in the skin.[/li][li]Inhalation (lung) - Some anthrax infections occur when people breathe in the spores of the bacteria.[/li][li]Gastrointestinal - Some people may get anthrax by eating infected meat that has not been properly cooked.[/li][/ul]
[SIZE=6]What are the symptoms of anthrax? [/SIZE]

[ul]
[li]Skin (cutaneous) - This is the most common form of anthrax. Infection requires a break in the skin. The first symptoms include itching where the skin has been exposed. Then, a large boil or sore appears. The sore becomes covered by a black scab. If not treated, the infection can spread to the lymph nodes and bloodstream.[/li][li]Inhalation - Inhalation anthrax has been very rare in the U.S. First symptoms include fever, fatigue, malaise and a cough or chest pain. High fever, rapid pulse and severe difficulty breathing follow in two to five days. Inhalation anthrax is often fatal.[/li][li]Gastrointestinal - This form occurs only after eating infected, undercooked meat. First symptoms include fever, severe abdominal pain, loose, watery bowel movements, bloody diarrhea and vomiting with blood.[/li][/ul]
[SIZE=6]How soon after exposure do symptoms develop? [/SIZE]

Symptoms usually develop between one and seven days after exposure but prolonged periods up to 42 days for cutaneous (skin) anthrax and 60 days for inhalation anthrax are possible, though rare.

[SIZE=6]Can anthrax be spread person to person? [/SIZE]

Inhalation (lung) anthrax is not spread from person to person. Even if you develop symptoms of inhalation anthrax, you are not contagious to other persons. If you develop cutaneous (skin) anthrax, the drainage from an open sore presents a low risk of infection to others. The only way cutaneous (skin) anthrax can be transmitted is by direct contact with the drainage from an open sore. Anthrax is not spread from person to person by casual contact, sharing office space or by coughing and sneezing.

[SIZE=6]How is it diagnosed? [/SIZE]

Anthrax is diagnosed when the Bacillus anthracis bacterium is found in the blood, skin lesions or respiratory secretions by a laboratory culture. It can also be diagnosed by measuring specific antibodies in the blood of infected persons. Nasal swabs are not a good way to diagnose anthrax because a swab cannot definitively determine if someone has not been exposed to anthrax.

[SIZE=6]What is the treatment for illness caused by anthrax? [/SIZE]

There are several antibiotics that are used successfully to treat anthrax. Treatment is highly effective in cases of cutaneous (skin) anthrax and is effective in inhalation and gastrointestinal anthrax if begun early in the course of infection.

[SIZE=6]Is there a way to prevent infection? [/SIZE]

Persons known to be exposed to confirmed anthrax spores will be given antibiotics, usually ciprofloxacin (cipro) or doxycycline, for several weeks to prevent infection.

https://www.health.ny.gov/diseases/communicable/anthrax/fact_sheet.htm

3

Naona Alex Njeru is always putting tharaka nithi on the map.

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Isinishtue na venye nilienda home nili changamkia some very suspicious choma meat, ati ya ngombe ilikufa. Nobody knew the cause of death

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Eating a dead animal ni poverty and tamaa

I thought the lord of poverty hatoki kwenyu…?

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Happy Uliam awa shugulikie kabisa Personally hi kitu isi spread Sana.

Too many votes at risk here.

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:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

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Aint anthrax mùrirû in Greek… we say the confirmation test us nyama ya muriru ni ikiboil huwa inachapa hip kifuniko ya sufuria inafunuka :smiley: