ECDC: Negligible anthrax risk from contaminated meat

The agency said although contaminated meat was sent to food outlets and processing plants, a recall has significantly reduced the risk of additional cases of anthrax.

The 53-year-old man owned and bred sheep and cows in a village in Vetrino, administrative district of Varna.

No other cases have been reported and considering most have onset of illness within seven days of exposure, it seems unlikely that new cases will arise, said ECDC.

Bulgarian authority action​

Bulgarian authorities put in place control measures minimising risk of spread of the infection.

Exposure to the infected animal or its meat was at a local level, and international distribution has not been reported.

On 7 July, the man and two friends slaughtered a sick cow without informing the Regional Food Safety Directorate (RFSD).

The RFSD identified 30 contacts exposed to the sick cow, its carcass or meat from it. All were prescribed antibiotic prophylaxis and are under medical observation.

The meat processing plant involved had permission for international distribution but all production during the event was sent to the Bulgarian market.

Despite the business operator saying meat from the sick cow had not entered the plant investigations showed between 8 and 18 July, it had processed and dispatched meat preparations ‘nadenitsa’ to 25 retail and catering sites in the district of Varna and two in the district of Dobrich.

Two samples from 5kg of ‘nadenitsa’ suspected to have been produced by or with meat from the sick cow and confiscated from two private persons were positive for anthrax spores.

Four out of eight environmental samples (smears) from the working environment, food-contact surfaces and equipment of the processing plant were also positive.

The competent authorities took a number of actions at the processing plant and retail and catering sites that received meat from the plant including recalls and disinfection.  

All 50 samples collected and analysed after the second disinfection were negative for anthrax spores.

Anthrax in Europe ​

Bulgaria posted messages on 27 and 28 July on the confidential Early Warning and Response System (EWRS) for member states.

ECDC and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) updated the rapid risk assessment​ as requested by the European Commission on 23 July.

Meanwhile, two cases have been confirmed in Armenia. The patients were in the Ninocminda region, Georgia where they bought some meat and later noticed wounds on their hands.

The patients went to the Armavir Medical Center with ‘Siberian ulcer’ (anthrax) and after were hospitalized in “Nork” infectious center.

The condition of both patients is satisfactory with positive shift in recovery, said the agency​.

Anthrax is a zoonotic disease caused by the gram-positive spore-forming and toxin-producing bacterium B. anthracis.

Humans can become infected by handling products from infected animals, by inhaling spores from contaminated animal products or eating meat from an infected animal.

From 2008 to 2014, 74 confirmed cases were reported via the European Surveillance System (TESSy) by EU/EEA countries, ranging from 1 to 32 per year. A large proportion of these were in people who inject drugs. 

In 2011, two cases of human anthrax who had been exposed to a infected cow via consumption of its meat or being involved in its slaughter in a private backyard in Romania were reported.