Bhubaneswar/Cooch Behar, Feb. 4: Amid reports from neighbouring Bengal that cows were dying due to anthrax, the Koraput district administration has pressed the panic button after four person died last week on being infected by the bacteria that came from eating semi-cooked beef.

Three women and a man in Sunabeda and Simliguda died in Koraput prompting the district administration to send messages asking local residents not to eat beef from unhealthy animals.

“Mala gai goru khaiba nahin. Khaile taku mariba bhai (Do not consume dead cows. If you eat them, you will die),” said the administration’s message to tribal residents whose traditional cooking system encourages half-boiled beef consumption that increases chances of infection.

Last September, Koraput reported more than six deaths after tribal villagers consumed stale beef from infected cows. The problem is peculiarly acute in this region. Households dry left-over beef in the sun and store them in earthen pots to be taken out occasionally, cooked and served.

This is dangerous, according to experts, because spores that cause anthrax is one of the toughest known and can lay dormant for decades to prey on the host.

Despite all awareness initiatives, tribals seem reluctant to shed their food and cooking customs, rued chief district veterinary officer S.K. Takri. “The people here are illiterate and don’t understand exactly how the infection spreads. They don’t understand the symptoms and don’t go to the hospital immediately after the symptoms show. The delay proves fatal,” he added. The administration has started vaccinating some 12,600 cows in the block. Some 86,694 cows have been vaccinated alone. Teams of doctors and health workers have been deputed to the affected areas with medicines and vaccines.

Takri said: “The situation is under control now.”

In Bengal, Cooch Behar district magistrate R.K. Sinha said a family in Bhojanerchhara village had lost five cows last week.

“We had collected samples and sent them to the local animal resources development department laboratory for tests. The results have turned out to be positive for anthrax,” he said today.

So far, 13 cows had died due to anthrax. “Given the situation we have decided to vaccinate cattle in the area from tomorrow,” Sinha added.