Vet services on high alert after anthrax outbreak in Chobe

Botswana has placed its department of animal health and veterinary services on high alert following an outbreak of anthrax among wildlife in the Chobe National Park. The disease is caused by bacillus anthracis, which produces symptoms that include the continuous release of blood-tainted body fluids and sudden death in wildlife. According to Molothanyi Otlhomile, head of the department of national parks and wildlife in the northern regions of Ngamiland and Chobe, about 120 animals, mainly buffalo, elephant and hippo, have died since the disease appeared on 8 September. Otlhomile said the outbreak had not yet spread to communities living inside Chobe, an 11,700 sq km game sanctuary that is a key component of the country's wildlife-based tourism industry, and dismissed fears that the disease could spread to human settlements. "The affected areas have been cordoned off. Teams from the department of animal health, veterinary services, the Botswana Defence Forces (BDF) and the police are involved in joint operations with national parks staff to oversee a speedy destruction of infected carcasses. People can only contract the anthrax bacillus through eating contaminated meat, but that is highly unlikely, since the affected areas have been cordoned off," Otlhomile told IRIN. He added that the authorities were increasing staff on the ground to ensure they reached the carcasses before scavengers like vultures, jackals and lions that could spread the disease. There are fears that the threat of anthrax, coming on the heels of a recent foot-and-mouth (FMD) outbreak, could be a severe blow to the tourism industry. Otlhomile said the authorities were working with safari operators to find ways of controlling the outbreak before it affected the season, which was already mid-way. Parks officials noted that there was a constant threat of disease outbreaks because of uncontrolled mixing between domestic and wild animals across the northern Ngamiland region, and blamed the huge elephant population for the destruction of the perimeter fence separating domestic from wild animals. The government has dismissed reports that the fence was in disrepair. Musa Fanakiso, the director of Animal Health Services, said the fence was "still intact and being maintained". Ngamiland province, the country's chief livestock and tourism hub, has experienced successive FMD outbreaks since 2000. It was recently plagued by a severe outbreak of Contagious Bovine Pleura Pneumonia (CBPP), a cattle lung disease. Constant disease outbreaks have hampered livestock recovery efforts by small-scale farmers, who are still struggling to rebuild their herds after the severe FMD outbreaks of 2002 and 2003.