OUR CORRESPONDENT, Bogura

A woman from Gaibandha’s Sundarganj upazila died with anthrax-like symptoms at Rangpur Medical College Hospital last night.

The deceased was Rozina Begum, 45, wife of Abul Hossain of Paschim Belka village. Her nephew Ashraful Islam said she died shortly after 9:30pm.

Dr Mokhlesur Rahman, head of the medicine department at the hospital, told The Daily Star, “Rozina did not die while undergoing treatment. Her condition was already critical when she was brought to our hospital last night.

“Based on the symptoms, we suspected her to be an anthrax patient. But her relatives wanted to take her away from the hospital, and she died within the hospital premises.”

Dibakar Basak, Sundarganj Upazila Health and Family Planning Officer, said Rozina had two sores on her hand and had been exposed to a sick animal.

“It cannot be confirmed whether she died of anthrax without tests,” he added.

Rozina’s nephew Ashraful said she had slaughtered and distributed the meat of a sick goat five days before falling ill,

“A few days later, two sores appeared on her hand. Yesterday, her condition deteriorated and her blood pressure dropped significantly. When she was taken to Sundarganj Upazila Health Complex around 3:00pm, doctors referred her to the Rangpur hospital.”

Anthrax cases have been detected in Gaibandha after eight people from Pirgachha upazila of Rangpur tested positive at the laboratory of the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) late last month.

Two people had died in the upazila last month with symptoms resembling anthrax. However, it could not be confirmed whether they had died of anthrax, as no samples were taken from them.