TEHRAN -- There are only 150 people in the Islamic Republic infected with anthrax, an official of the Health ministry announced here on Tuesday.

“We have managed to control the spread of the disease throughout the country during recent years,” Mohammad-Reza Shirzadi said, adding “there is no concern in this regard”.
Fortunately, there are vaccines effective against anthrax, and some forms of the disease respond well to antibiotic treatment, Shirzadi stated.
The disease affects both humans and animals and most forms of it are lethal (if untreated), Shirzadi explained.
Anthrax, is a bacterial disease (bacillus anthracis), which may not spread directly from an infected body to another. Clothes, bodies, and even soil, Shirzadi commented, may be contaminated with anthrax spores. When these spores are inhaled, ingested, or come into contact with a skin lesion on a host they may reactivate and multiply rapidly.
The usual danger of contagion for humans is occupational exposure to infected animals or their products, such as meat, Shirzadi warned.