Five members of one family in Ukraine's southern region of Odesa have been hospitalized with symptoms of anthrax after slaughtering cattle, the Health Ministry says.
A ministry statement issued on October 2 said that one of the patients had so far tested positive for anthrax.
The statement says the form of anthrax was not pulmonary, meaning that only the skin of the patient was affected, making it possible to cure with antibiotics.
The tests also revealed anthrax spores in meat from the slaughtered animal and at the site where it was killed in the village of Minyaylivka in the Odesa region.
Their village has been under 15-day quarantine since September 30, during which all livestock and residents of the village will be thoroughly checked by medical and sanitary experts.
Anthrax spores can survive in soil for a long period of time and impose danger to grazing livestock.
Since 2003, Ukrainian officials have reported several cases of anthrax in various regions.
