Last Friday the California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory System at UC Davis confirmed that tissue samples sent to UC Davis from the Santa Clara County Agricultural Commissioner’s Office contained anthrax. The samples had been obtained from cattle that died at a ranch in rural Santa Clara County.
Anthrax, which naturally occurs in soil around the world, resulted in the deaths of 21 cattle at the ranch between Oct. 20 and Sunday. About 120 cattle have been vaccinated to protect against further losses.
There is no evidence that this event is related to terrorist activities. And the incident does not pose a threat to the general public, said Santa Clara County Health Officer Dr. Martin Fenstersheib.
"The only people at risk are those coming into direct contact with the blood, tissue or other body fluids of infected animals," Fenstersheib said.
Because of the current heightened concern over anthrax, as a precautionary measure and to help lab employees feel comfortable, 10 people who handled the tissues in the animal health and food safety lab at UC Davis have been seen by the campus employee health physician and provided with antibiotics. None of the 10 has shown symptoms of anthrax.
The UC Davis lab has a contract with the state Department of Health Services and the California Department of Food and Agriculture to test specimens in order to diagnose and identify animal diseases.
The lab observes the highest protocols for the handling of infectious diseases, including bloodborne and airborne diseases. Scientists are trained in proper procedures for handling specimens and use clothing and equipment designed for this purpose.
In the past decade, the lab has identified 10 cases of anthrax, nine from California and one from Nevada.
"Anthrax is a very old disease that is not uncommon in animals," said State Veterinarian Dr. Richard Breitmeyer. "It is not contagious," he said, noting that cattle get the disease from ingesting anthrax spores while eating soil during grazing. Those spores can live in soil for many years.
"The rapid reporting and response to contain this event helped to safeguard livestock and protect public health," Breitmeyer said.
The samples have been sent on to Northern Arizona University for further analysis to identify the specific strain of the disease. It is believed that this further testing will confirm that the Santa Clara anthrax case is from naturally occurring spores, and not related to the anthrax being spread in the nation’s mail system.