February 09, 2004, 17:30
Three people have died and close to 200 have been infected by an outbreak of anthrax in Zimbabwe, according to the Science In Africa news website.
The outbreaks have been linked to the uncontrolled movement of cattle by new settlers benefiting from the government's controversial land redistribution programme.
"There is no way cattle diseases can fail to thrive when cattle are being moved without permits from one part of the country to another," said a senior official in the veterinary department, who preferred anonymity. The outbreak, at present confined to the southeastern province of Masvingo, has so far affected 191 people and caused the deaths of more than 60 head of cattle since it emerged last month.
Tapiwa Magure, the Masvingo provincial medical director said, "the number of cases of anthrax affecting people continues to rise at alarming levels. We are also concerned about the effect it is having on livestock."
Anthrax is caused by a bacterium, bacillus anthracis, whose spores can survive in a hostile environment for years, biding their time. Humans generally acquire the disease directly or indirectly from infected animals. Control in livestock is therefore the key to reduced incidence, according to the World Health Organisation.
Vaccination exercise
The cash-strapped Zimbabwean veterinary services department had launched a vaccination exercise in the province to try and contain the disease, while awareness campaigns had been launched. "We have dispatched more officials to Bikita, the hardest hit district in the province, to try and contain the disease," Magure said.
Zimbabwe's lack of foreign exchange to buy the vaccines had hampered the government's efforts to control anthrax. The lack of money was also responsible for the lack of action in the epidemic of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) that threatens the country's beef industry. Lucrative beef exports to the European Union were suspended in 2001 after the first signs of a serious FMD outbreak.
Joseph Made, agriculture minister and the director of veterinary services have reportedly travelled to Iran to source anthrax and FMD vaccines. - Science in Africa
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