Auckland clinic prescribing anti-anthrax drug for US-bound travellers

An Auckland medical clinic is issuing antibiotics to protect travellers against anthrax, following several recent incidents in which anthrax spores were spread through the mail within the United States.

The Auckland Metro Doctors Travel Care clinic, which sees about 7000 travellers a year, says it is routinely providing anthrax treatment packs to all US-bound travellers, starting today.

Dr Judy Gill of the clinic says the pack includes a 3-day supply of Ciprofloxacin, a commonly available antibiotic that travellers can use to treat other conditions including travellers' diarrhoea and cystitis.

If a traveller believes he or she has been exposed to anthrax through inhalation, skin contact, or eating contaminated meat, they would take the antibiotic immediately and seek medical assistance as soon as possible. Blood tests would then establish whether the traveller had been infected with anthrax.