Anthrax Kills People in Masvingo

Source: The Herald (Harare)

Date: 18 November 2005

Author: George Maponga

Three people and 130 cattle have succumbed to an anthrax outbreak that has hit most parts of Masvingo Province in the past few weeks.

The dead are from Bikita, the worst affected area where 14 livestock deaths were reported.

The resurgence of anthrax cases in both humans and livestock has raised alarm bells in the Department of Veterinary Services which has expressed concern at the impact of the outbreak on the province's beef herd.

Acting provincial veterinary officer for Masvingo Dr Charity Sibanda yesterday confirmed the anthrax-related deaths of the three people and scores of cattle in Bikita.

Dr Sibanda said it was disturbing that the highly contagious disease had resurfaced in Masvingo this year in the aftermath of a massive anthrax outbreak last year, which almost decimated the province's beef herd.

"There has been an outbreak of anthrax in the province over the past few weeks which has already claimed three human lives and 14 livestock in Bikita. We suspect that most people who were affected by the disease might have contracted it from biltong made from beef from animals that died during last year's outbreak," said Dr Sibanda.

She added that the outbreak had to date been reported in six districts, namely Masvingo, Bikita, Zaka, Chivi, Gutu and Chiredzi. Zaka was the worst affected in terms of livestock fatalities with 64 cattle having already succumbed to anthrax. In Gutu, the disease has claimed 32 cattle while 17 cattle died in Masvingo district with Chiredzi and Chivi recording less than 10 deaths each.

Dr Sibanda said the veterinary department did not have sufficient stocks of anthrax vaccines to inoculate all the cattle.

"We only have enough stocks to cater for areas where outbreaks of the disease would have been reported. We would have wanted to go on a wholesale vaccination exercise of all the cattle in the province, but we cannot do that because we do not have enough stocks to inject all the cattle at once," said Dr Sibanda.

Last year, anthrax - which is an acute infectious disease caused by spore-forming bacteria, called bacillus anthracis, which can stay in an environment for about 60 years, killed hundreds of cattle in Masvingo Province.

The disease has already severely dented Masvingo's efforts to replenish its beef herd