Bhubaneswar, June 2: Two people and dozens of cattle have died of anthrax in Orissa's tribal dominated Koraput district, while over 20 people have fallen ill, officials said on Monday.

The disease that usually affects cattle and spreads to humans if they eat contaminated meat has gripped the villages of Kandhasahi and Mantriput, about 700 km from the state capital here, said Chief District Medical Officer B.C. Roy.

Six animals, including cows and goats, died of anthrax in Kandhasahi May 1 and 16 villagers contracted the disease after eating their meat. One of them, a 41-year-old man, died May 15 despite being given treatment, Roy said.

On May 26, over a dozen cattle died of the disease in Mantriput. Five people contracted the disease and one of them died on Saturday.

"We have sent a mobile health team to the region. The doctors are treating all the affected people," Roy said.

Eighteen of Orissa's 30 districts have been identified as endemic to the deadly anthrax that kills dozens of people in the state every year.

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