Rancher contracts anthrax after butchering and eating dead lamb
A rancher caught anthrax after butchering and consuming a lamb that died unexpectedly on his property.
The man, aged 50 to 59, ‘had butchered a lamb that had died suddenly on his ranch’ in Texas on Christmas Eve, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
Eleven days later, the rancher went to a hospital to be seen for a black eschar on his right wrist, blistered lesions on his right arm, extensive edema, leukocytosis, a fever and high white blood cell count.
The rancher initially was not suspected to have anthrax, but was diagnosed with the disease after three days of antibiotic therapy was ineffective in treating his condition.
He recovered and was discharged from a hospital after one week.
But the case led CDC investigators to look further into how he developed it, in light of anthrax animal outbreaks usually happening in hot and dry weather in the summer instead of the winter.
Anthrax is a ‘rare but serious infectious zoonotic disease caused by the spore-forming bacterium Bacillus anthracis‘ and can be spread to humans through contact with infected animal hides or hair, states the CDC.
The lamb was healthy and did not show signs of disease before dying, according to the report published on Thursday. It was seasoned and cooked by the rancher and another individual, and five people ate it.
Only the rancher contracted anthrax, and the other people did not have symptoms of gastrointestinal anthrax.
‘The lamb was suspected to be the source of the patient’s illness and, in light of suspected anthrax,’ states the report.
While the rancher was hospitalized, two ewes on his farm died and had ocular and nasal hemorrhage. A ‘high level of clinical and epidemiologic suspicion for anthrax remained’ around their deaths, according to the report.
The rancher’s identity has not been released.
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