Suspected anthrax claimed the lives of three tribals while four were admitted into Laxmipur hospital as the fatal disease spread in Kutinga village under Laxmipur block in Koraput district.

According to sources, over 100 villagers of Kutinga had consumed raw meat of a cow in a feast a week back and the disease gradually gripped the villagers and three of them succumbed to the deadly disease. The villagers and local health staff believed that the death was was due to unidentified disease and reported the matter to the Koraput district health administration and local Laxmipur hospital.

However, when a medical teams rushed to the pocket, found symptoms of Anthrax among the villagers and immediately shifted one of them to Laxmipur hospital on July 23. The medical team distributed medicines among affected villagers to control the disease from further spreading.