OREBRO, Sweden, July 24 (UPI) -- Sweden's National Veterinary Institute says anthrax was found on a cattle farm outside Orebro, in central Sweden.
The Swedish Board of Agriculture has taken steps to prevent the disease from spreading, the Swedish news agency TT reported.
Officials said there is no immediate threat to public safety. One cow was found to be carrying the disease, but over the past week several animals on the farm have died.
"We suspect that several have died of the same cause," said Gunilla Hallgren, a veterinary at the National Veterinary Institute. "But we've only tested one animal. The farm has a total of roughly 80 animals, and between 10 to 20 of them died recently."
The veterinary institute said there is little likelihood the infection would spread to other farms.
"We think this is an old infection that has resurfaced following some digging in the cow field," Hallgren said. "We've received some unconfirmed information that there were anthrax graves there. But the infection doesn't spread through the air."
"Only dying or dead animals are contagious, and these animals are never in the food supply chain," Hallgren said.
Humans can be infected if they have close contact with animals who are dying of the disease, the report said.
