Russia reports suspected case of Anthrax

MOSCOW - Two Russian butchers in the southern Siberian region of Altai were suspected of having contracted anthrax yesterday after slaughtering an infected cow, local media reported.

Itar-Tass news agency reported that the men had already sold contaminated meat to a client, possibly from the neighbouring region of Kemerovo, raising fears the disease could spread.

"Their preliminary diagnosis is anthrax," Ria-Novosti news agency quoted a regional health official as saying.

Altai, a steppe region near Russia's border with China, Mongolia and Kazakhstan, one of the country's suppliers of meat products and grain.

Anthrax is an acute, sometimes deadly, disease caused by spore-forming bacteria.It thrives in grazing livestock such as cattle, goats and sheep, which can ingest anthrax spores from the soil.

The news came at a time when Russia is trying to contain an outbreak of deadly bird flu that is being spread by birds migrating towards European Russia from Siberia.

- REUTERS