অ্যানথ্রাক্স সার্ভেইলেন্স
অ্যানথ্রাক্স সার্ভেইলেন্স এর সংক্ষিপ্ত বিবরণ
Anthrax is a zoonotic origin acute bacterial infection caused by the spore forming bacteria Bacillus Anthracis. It affects both human and animals. It is primarily a disease of herbivores and can affect humans through contact through skin breach, ingestion of raw/uncooked meat and through inhalation route with an incubation period of 1-20 days. The infection is usually fatal for the affected animals while in human it can be fatal if not rapidly diagnosed and treated accordingly. Ingestion anthrax occurs when raw or undercooked meat salvaged from infected animals is consumed. Inhalation anthrax causes severe disease but rarely occurs naturally in humans. It occurs when aerosolized B. anthracis spores during contact with or processing of contaminated hides, bones, hair, or wool are inhaled. Clinical suspicion is induced through history of contact with sick animals or ingestion of meat from sick livestock. Gold standard of diagnosis is by culture of Bacillus Anthracis. Management of Anthrax include standard infection management with Post exposure Prophylaxis whenever possible (Vaccine not available in Bangladesh). Details can be found in the National Guidelines for Management and Prevention of Human Anthrax.
B. anthracis spores are notorious for surviving in the soil for several years and are distributed worldwide. The disease is endemic to Africa, Central Asia, the Middle East, and South America (7,8). The pathogen substantially impacts the economy and public health in the countries with scarce resources. The development of anthrax control and outbreak response programs are required to effectively control the disease. The high mortality rate among livestock can disrupt the livelihood of the families that depend on animal husbandry and causes severe distress to the local agricultural sector. In the anthrax endemic areas it is a regular practice to slaughter the sick animals to recover the loss of income or food from the animals which leads to human infections (contact, inhalation and ingestion) and can affect whole communities.
Sporadic outbreak of both human and animal Anthrax has been reported in Bangladesh. Since 2010, the outbreaks has been reported every year from different areas of Bangladesh, especially in the Northern part of the country. IEDCR conducts sentinel surveillance of human anthrax with the recommendation of one health approach from 2018. Five sentinel sites are Gangni (Meherpur), Shahjadpur, Khamarkhond, Belkuchi, Ullapara (Sirajgonj).
Contact Person: Dr. Sohel Rahman, IEDCR
Phone No: 01716629308
