The Bulgarian Food Safety Agency (BFSA) has officially declared an outbreak of anthrax in the village of Stefanovo, Lovech district, after specialized laboratory tests confirmed the presence of the disease in a large ruminant. The infection was discovered after members of a local family developed symptoms and were hospitalized in Pleven after slaughtering their sick cow for personal use and consuming the meat. The area of the incident is currently isolated, and the institutions assure that there is no direct threat to the public health.
Emergency measures and quarantine in Lovech
Following an emergency meeting of the Regional Epizootic Commission in Lovech, convened by the regional governor Plamen Hristov, immediate actions were ordered to contain the bacteria. According to the official report published by the Bulgarian National Radio (bnrnews.bg), a complete ban on the movement of animals to pastures and watering places has been imposed in the village of Stefanovo.
All susceptible animals in the affected farm, which has a total of 205 cattle, as well as in the remaining four sites in the village (three of which with sheep), have been placed under constant veterinary supervision. Emergency preventive vaccination against anthrax has begun. All meat stored in the family's freezer was seized and promptly destroyed, and the outbreak and pastures were subjected to deep disinfection.
Health status of contact persons
The Director of the Regional Health Inspectorate (RHI) - Lovech, Dr. Rositsa Milcheva, announced that they were accurately identified 21 contacts. Among them are:
The four members of the family who participated in the slaughter of the animal and developed initial symptoms. The deputy mayor of Stefanovo village. Employees of the Regional Directorate of Food Safety (RDFS) - Lovech. Police officers guarding the area.As the information portal btvnovinite.bg reports, all contact persons have been assigned mandatory post-exposure prophylaxis with antibiotics and are undergoing examinations by infectious disease specialists. The authorities reassure that anthrax is not transmitted from person to person, and infection occurs only through direct contact with a sick animal, its blood or skin.
Tension on the ground: Attack on journalists
The case also caused a serious public scandal after tensions escalated between the farm owners and the media. According to Nova TV (nova.bg), the son of the owner of the infected site attacked a television crew that was filming outside the buffer zone. The perpetrator attempted to run over the journalists with a tractor, after which he was immediately detained by the Ministry of Interior.
Veterinarians remind that the last anthrax outbreak in the Lovech region was registered in 2017 in the Lukovit municipality. Currently, vaccinations are also being carried out in the neighboring villages of Vladinya and Drenov, which fall into the monitored zone due to old outbreaks.