000911 Family Treated For Anthrax After Eating Beef

St. Paul, MN - Six members of a Minnesota family were being treated for anthrax after they consumed or handled beef from a cow that was infected with the disease, state health officials said on Friday.

The unidentified family from Roseau County, near the Canadian border, had raised the cow on their own farm and had it slaughtered at a small “custom” slaughterhouse, according to a statement from the Minnesota Department of Health.

The six members prepared or consumed the meat between Aug. 15 and 20. Two of the six developed symptoms of gastrointestinal anthrax, the form of the disease that affects the digestive system, the statement said.

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported on Friday that both victims had recovered spontaneously.

Assistant state epidemiologist Richard Danila told the newspaper that, if confirmed, these would be the first known cases of gastrointestinal anthrax in the United States.

However, the state health department said it had received reports of anthrax in cattle herds in Minnesota, North Dakota and across the border in southern Manitoba, Canada.

“The family's experience comes during a year when anthrax activity seems to be unusually prevalent among cattle herds in the region,” the agency's statement read.

The statement emphasized that the situation in Roseau County “involves no risk for the general public.” While the anthrax bacteria can be ingested, inhaled or transmitted through an open sore, the agency said it is not believed that anthrax can be spread directly from one person to another.

Cattle and other animals typically contract the disease by grazing in a contaminated pasture.

Seven other cattle carcasses were processed at the same small slaughtering facility before Minnesota authorities became aware of the infected cow. Because of concerns about cross-contamination through equipment at the site, the agency said it had recommended treatment with antibiotics for approximately 60 other people who ate meat from the first animal that was processed after the infected carcass.

Meat samples from the seven carcasses were all negative for anthrax. The plant conducted a thorough cleaning after the meat from the infected cow was destroyed, the health department said.

The slaughterhouse involved does not produce any meat for sale to the public.

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