Villager in northwestern Thailand infected by goat-carried anthrax

BANGKOK, Nov. 28 (Xinhua) -- A villager in northwestern Thailand has been infected with an anthrax, said a senior government official on Tuesday.

Public Health Ministry Undersecretary Chetsada Chokdamrongsuk confirmed that the unidentified villager in Mae Sot district of Tak province, about 470 km northwest of Bangkok, has contracted the bacterial disease after he had slaughtered a goat believed to have carried bacillus anthracis.

Another villager of Mae Sot, across the Thai-Myanmar border from Myawaddy township, is yet to be diagnosed to see whether he may as well have contracted the disease during the slaughtering of the goat, allegedly smuggled from inside Myanmar.

The anthrax could possibly be transmitted from infected livestock such as cattle, sheep and goats to humans via the skin and respiratory system, he said.

The bacterial disease may cause severe ulceration of the skin and pneumonia. Enditem