Anthrax outbreak continues

Three people have died and close to 200 have been infected by an outbreak of anthrax as Zimbabwe struggles to contain the disease, which affects both humans and cattle. 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. Masvingo provincial medical director, Tapiwa Magure, said the largest number of people affected was recorded last week with 50 new infections. "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," he was quoted as saying. The causative agent of anthrax is the bacterium, bacillus anthracis, the spores of which can survive in the environment for years. 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. The 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, as well as an epidemic of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) that was threatening 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. Agriculture minister Joseph Made and the director of vetinary services have reportedly travelled to Iran to source anthrax and FMD vaccines. The outbreaks have been linked to the uncontrolled movement of cattle by new settlers benefiting from the government's 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.