A 35-year-old man who was forced to cull a sick cow was taken on Tuesday to the Shieli district hospital in the Qyzylorda region with anthrax symptoms. Two other men, who also participated in slaughtering the animal, were hospitalized Wednesday evening, the ministry said.
People who may have been in contact with the sick animal have been placed under medical observation.
Regional authorities have also set up a headquarters to coordinate health measures, introduced in the area, to combat and eliminate the lethal infection, the ministry said.
Anthrax cases have also been reported in neighboring Russia.
Russia's health officials said on Tuesday that eight people had been hospitalized in the East Siberian Republic of Buryatia with suspected anthrax. Three more people, who developed symptoms similar to skin anthrax, had been hospitalized suspected of suffering with the disease following a medical examination
In a separate development, a state of emergency was introduced on Tuesday in the Ketchenerovsky District of the southern Russian Republic of Kalmykia, where a total of five sheep and goats have died of anthrax since June 18.
