TIRUPATI: Creating a scare among the people and health officials of Chittoor district, six persons out of 25 residents of SC Colony in Kodandaramapuram panchayat of Karvetinagaram mandal, who consumed stale buffalo meat, have tested positive for anthrax.
Medical officers and duty doctors at Puttur government hospital, who treated the cases on Friday, said six of the villagers were affected with anthrax with abscesses on their hands, legs and other body parts.
According to the locals, the 25-odd residents of SC Colony consumed a dead buffalo meat after it was stored for a couple of days. A day after consuming the meat, they developed vomiting and motions. Those who tested positive for anthrax, got abscesses. The affected people were admitted to different hospitals. On Friday morning, the condition of two of them turned serious.
Alerted by the Puttur area hospital officials, the district authorities conducted a medical camp in Kodandaramapuram SC Colony to collect the blood samples of all the residents. Some of them were available and others had already left the village. The two patients whose condition is serious, were shifted to Chittoor hospital. Later, one case was referred to SVR Ruia Hospital in Tirupati.