Cambodia and Laos have temporarily banned the import of livestock and related animal products from Thailand to prevent anthrax outbreaks.
According to China's Xinhua News Agency, Cambodia's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries has taken the step, and is closely monitoring the anthrax outbreak in parts of Thailand.
"Currently, there are no cases of the disease reported in Cambodia, but as a precautionary measure, the ministry has imposed a temporary ban on the import of livestock and related animal products from all Thai border crossings," it said.
It added that authorities have worked closely together with various state agencies at those border crossings to enforce the ban. No word was to hand on how long it will last.
Meanwhile, Laos has imposed ban on imports of pork, beef, mutton and horse meat from Thailand since May 5 to mitigate the risk of an anthrax outbreak in the country.
All vehicles from Thailand must be disinfected before entering Laos, according to Thai media.
In Thailand, all 636 at-risk people have completed a seven-day period of observation after being exposed to the disease, Dr Narong Chankaew, chief of the Mukdahan Provincial Public Health Office, said on Wednesday.
Dr Narong said all of them received medication to prevent infection during the observation period and they can now resume normal activities.
While the outbreak, in which one person died and four others were hospitalised, has raised awareness of the disease, many people are still afraid of consuming beef, he said.
He insisted it is safe to eat meat that is thoroughly cooked at a heat of at least 120C or boiled for 30 minutes to kill any potential anthrax bacteria.
The Department of Disease Control said the recent outbreak in Mukdahan is confined to an area in Don Tan district.
Those who were infected were exposed via skin contact or eating contaminated meat.
Anthrax is commonly found in cattle, buffalo, goats and sheep, but in this case, beef is believed to be the source.
Dr Narong said health investigators are certain that they have located the source of the disease -- the butchering of a cow on April 12 on a rubber planation in Ban Khok Sawang in tambon Lao Mee. He said the person who died took part in the butchering and became ill on April 24.