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Article History

Received: 11 December 2025

Accepted: 8 May 2026

First Online: 9 June 2026

Declarations

Ethics approval and consent to participate: This study was conducted in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki and formed part of a public health emergency investigation of an anthrax outbreak. All sampling and testing were undertaken solely for routine diagnostic and source-tracing purposes during the outbreak response, with no additional experimental procedures or extra sample collection beyond standard public health practice. Ethical review exemption was approved by the Medical Ethics Review Committee of the Hinggan League Centre for Disease Control and Prevention. As this work constituted a public health outbreak investigation rather than conventional human-subjects research, separate written informed consent from patients was not required. Animal tissue samples were residual materials obtained from the slaughter of the patient’s diseased sheep. Bacillus anthracis was subsequently isolated from swab samples collected from the patient’s skin lesions, sheepskin, sheep meat, and the surfaces of transport vehicles. Written informed consent for publication was obtained from all participants.

Consent for publication: Written informed consent for publication was obtained from all participants.

Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.