A bovine anthrax outbreak in northwestern New South Wales has hit Australia and caused so far the death of 40 cattle, the Department of Primary Industry reported on Wednesday.

The incidents were confined at two properties in Moree which have both been quarantined and all remaining cows vaccinated. Since March 9, there were no additional reports of anthrax from both sites, and no animals had left the two places, assuring the disease has not spread.

Although anthrax are rare but not unusual, most of the incidents take place at the so-called anthrax belt which is between Bourke and Moree in the north to Albury and Denliquin in the south.

The anthrax bacterium lives in the soil for decades. In 1973, Moree had a major outbreak that affected 15 properties and killed 400 cattle. Shaun Slattery, the district veterinarian of the Livestock Health and Pest Authority, explained that recent floods may have exposed the soil and anthrax spores from past outbreaks.

People could be infected by the cattle with anthrax if they handle the infected material, but the disease does not spread from person to person, said Professor Julian Rood from the Department of Microbiology at the Monash University.

The anthrax outbreak in NSW is the second to hit Australia in three weeks. However, the first one was of musical variety - the band Anthrax which performed at Soundwave Adelaide on the first week of March.

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