Anthrax Cases In Northern N.M.
First For That Area In Decade

WAGON MOUND, N.M. —(AP)— Anthrax has reared its head in northern New Mexico for the first time in several years, and at least one cow has died, health officials said.

One cow died recently at a ranch near Wagon Mound, and its carcass was buried in Raton's landfill before it was confirmed as an anthrax case, health and veterinary officials said.

Five other cattle died at the same ranch in the past two weeks, but anthrax has not been confirmed in those deaths, said ranch veterinarian Mark Jansen and Dr. David Keller, director of the state Health Department's infectious disease epidemiology program.

"The rest of the animals all died of similar clinical signs," Jansen said last week, although he only saw the one taken to the landfill.

Several people who came near that animal, including a bulldozer operator and some ranch employees, were treated with antibiotics to prevent any human illness. The health officials emphasized they expect no human anthrax cases.

Anthrax, a bacterial infection spread by spores in the soil, is usually treatable with antibiotics in its early stages, Keller said.

"We feel the immediate public health problem has been taken care of, and we're trying to figure where to go next," Keller said by. "We don't feel there's any risk."

He said the National Centers for Disease Control was consulted about the landfill burial, and it was decided to leave the cow there and cover it with caustic lime and five to six feet of dirt to decontaminate the site.

That cow died on a ranch that Keller said has more than 100 cattle. The rancher brought the dead cow to Jansen's clinic in Raton, where a blood sample was taken and sent immediately to a state lab in Albuquerque for testing. The lab's anthrax confirmation came last Monday and was announced the next day by the Health Department.

But the cow was already in the landfill.

The cow did not show classic anthrax symptoms, Keller and Jansen said. Jansen said he consulted the state lab before sending the sample and was told it probably wasn't an anthrax case.

The caustic lime burial was completed Tuesday.

"We've done all we've been advised to do to eliminate the hazard," Raton City Manager Eric Honeyfield said.

Jansen said the lime-and-dirt cap should seal the spores forever.

He said environmental conditions for anthrax have been perfect in northeastern New Mexico — first drouth, then heavy rainfall.

Paul Ettestad, state public health veterinarian, said anthrax spores stay alive in the soil 50 to 100 years, "and they can germinate and cause illness when there is a lot of rain after a dry period."

It's believed cattle get the illness when bacteria contact cuts and scratches in their mouths, Keller said.

Human anthrax shows up either as a skin infection or as pneumonia, Keller said. Most human cases show up in a black sore where the bacteria entered the skin, he said, while the pneumonic form is much more dangerous.

But Keller said human anthrax is very rare.

"In general, humans need to have very close contact with an ill animal or the carcass of an infected animal to contract the illness," he said.

The state's last animal anthrax case was in September 1997 in Lea County, in southeastern New Mexico.

Investigators surmise the Mora County cow was infected in its pasture.

Keller said all six cows were pastured in the same general area of the ranch and that it's believed the other five already have been buried. Officials will consider whether to exhume and burn them, he said.

Scientists agree the best way to dispose of an anthrax carcass is to burn it with an extremely hot fire, Keller said. Jet fuel has been used in such cremations.

Meantime, Keller, Ettestad and Jansen warned ranchers to avoid contact with cattle found dead of uncertain causes.

"Any farmer or rancher that comes across a dead animal, beware of anthrax," Jansen said, noting it's the disease's first appearance in northern New Mexico in at least 10 years.

"The pastures are quarantined," Keller said Wednesday in Santa Fe. "There have not been any additional deaths there or on adjacent premises."

"The next step, I believe, is going to be vaccination of that herd and possibly adjacent herds," Keller said. "I think they're going to begin immediately ... probably as soon as the vaccine gets here."

Ranchers pay for the vaccinations.

John Gwin, vice president of Denver-based Colorado Serum Co., said if ranchers buy dosages directly from his company, the price is $1.40 to $1.60 each. Veterinarians pay $1 to $1.14 a dose, and distribution companies like Great Western Animal Health Supply in Albuquerque pay 70 to 80 cents a dose, Gwin said.

John Wortman, executive director of the New Mexico Livestock Board, said ranchers have a choice if quarantined. They can wait at least 60 days for a herd to be cleared before moving it without vaccination — or 30 days if vaccinated.

"They're much better off economically to vaccinate," Wortman said. "It's my understanding that's what they're doing up there (in Mora County). I know some of the neighbors have been considering vaccinating."