Klamath County cattle quarantined after dead cow tests positive for anthrax
#1
I wasn't sure if anthrax lives in local soils or not. Apparently it does: http://www.oregonlive.com/health/index.s...ranti.html

Excerpt: "Oregon officials have quarantined a cattle ranch in Klamath County after a dead steer tested positive for anthrax.

The herd of 1,600 cattle was quarantined Thursday and is under observation.

Anthrax occurs naturally in soil and, while fatal to cattle, poses little threat to humans. Officials say even if people are infected by naturally occurring anthrax, the resulting skin condition is easily treatable -- a far cry from the lab-created spores that, through inhalation, killed or sickened nearly two dozen people in the 2001 anthrax attacks.

"We're trying to put it in context," said Dr. Paul Ciesak of the Oregon Health Authority. "There is a very low risk to human beings, and here is what you do."

If someone who works with cattle or cow hides is infected, they develop itchy pimples that turn into blisters or lesions, possibly accompanied by swelling and a low-grade fever. The tell-tale sign of anthrax? If the blister ruptures and leaves behind a crater-like coal-black scab -- calling for immediate medical attention, Ciesak said.

The lesions "develop over several days and are eminently treatable with antibiotics," Ciesak said.

In humans, there have been 243 cases of naturally occurring anthrax between 1955 and 2010 nationally, he said. Almost all of those were skin-based, rather than transmitted through inhalation.

Anthrax spores caused by a naturally occurring bacterium that can lie dormant in soil, officials say. Animals such as sheep, cattle and goats most commonly contract the disease. Humans can be infected through contact with infected animals, however the disease is not contracted human-to-human.

Three cows on the same Klamath County ranch are believed to have been killed by the disease. However, in nine days since the latest cow's death, no human cases have been reported, indicating the outbreak is under control, Ciesak said.

Earlier this month an outbreak of anthrax killed more than 60 cows on three ranches in Colorado and about 50 in Texas. In Oregon, the outbreak is thought to be the first in more than 50 years, and officials say they are not worried.

"We really aren't," said Bruce Pokarney, an Oregon Department of Agriculture spokesman. "We think it's very manageable."
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#2
Omigawd. We'll stick to turkey burgers.

Holy cow.
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#3
That's one of the reasons it's illegal to butcher sick cows for human consumption. Smiling
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#4
(09-01-2012, 12:28 PM)PonderThis Wrote: That's one of the reasons it's illegal to butcher sick cows for human consumption. Smiling

I think it's like the gun laws, it doesn't stop criminals.
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#5
Whole families have been wiped out by some desperate person slicing a few steaks off a dead steer that had died of anthrax.
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