Anthrax death toll stays at 1 but 98 others still at risk in Thailand’s Northeast

PUBLISHED: 5 May 2025 at 17: 15

A Livestock Development Department worker seals off a site where beef cattle were butchered at Khok Sawang village in tambon Laomee, Don Tan district, Mukdahan province on May 1. (Photo: Mukdahan provincial public relations office Facebook) — A contractor for the Livestock Development Department seals off a page where beef cattle were brutally killed on May 1 at the Khok Sawang town in the Don Tan area of Mukdahan province’s tambon Laomee. Twitter Mukdahan Provincial Public Relations Office

According to health officials, a northern county bordering Laos has had three instances of anthrax. One of them passed away, and 98 others are still being watched for the condition.

The accident was one of three confirmed situations in the Don Tan city of Mukdahan state, according to Public Health Minister Somsak Thepsutin on Monday. The various two patients were receiving care at Don Tan Hospital and one at Mukdahan Hospital.

The mortality in Thailand was the first of its kind in three years. He died on April 30 after getting sick on April 27. Local health authorities assumed that a group of people killed cattle and distributed meat to people who participated in a merit-winning activity.

636 individuals in the Don Tan city, which borders Laos, are thought to have come into contact with the disease overall. According to the chancellor, 538 of them have passed their monitoring interval, and 98 are still being watched. For seven weeks straight, all 636 people were given a broad-spectrum antibacterial, tetracycline.

Dr. Narong Chankaew, the Mukdahan public health chief, announced on Sunday that the 98 people at risk may finish their seven-day monitoring period on Wednesday. Those who had been on a seven-day monitoring program might have had skin or gastrointestinal issues.

There were no such instances in the Mukdahan event, according to Dr. Narong, but the monitoring time is 60 times for those who may include inhaled anthrax spores.

The northern province’s no new cases of anthrax were reported, according to the provincial health chief, which is a good sign.

The three affirmed cases were in a group of people who butchered animals in Don Tan area on April 12, the day before Songkran Thai New Year’s Day, according to Dr. Narong. Anthrax seeds were discovered on the dying man’s knife and cutting board by officials.

Anthrax spores were discovered at the area where another group of Don Tan members butchered cattle on April 28, according to officials, but no confirmed cases of the second group have emerged. Health professionals have not yet identified the origin of the bacillus in the area.