The ManicaPost
Luthando Mapepa Chipinge Correspondent
ANTHRAX outbreak has been reported in Chipinge and farmers are being urged to vaccinate their animals against the haemorrhagic infection that now poses serious threat to efforts being made to improve the quality of livestock in the district.
Anthrax – a highly infectious and fatal disease to mammals and humans remains a far greater threat to livestock, as infected animals left untreated, die within a few days.
Most cases of anthrax were recorded in Middle Sabi, Chibuwe, Rimbi, Chisumbanje and Mahenye, which are periodically hit by the disease due to their proximity to Save Conservancy where wild animals stray and spread the disease. Chipinge livestock development secretary Mr Joseph Mutsvaidzwa confirmed the outbreak.
“An anthrax outbreak has hit Chipinge district again and some farmers are already counting their losses. We do not have the actual statistic yet as veterinary officers and farmers are still compiling facts on the ground,” he said.
Mr Mutsvaidzwa called on Government to bail out farmers by making vaccines readily available. “We need more vaccines because our area was declared a red zone because of the disease. More vaccines should be made available because anthrax affects our herd every year,” said Mr Mutsvaidzwa.
Chipinge district civil protection chairperson Mr William Mashava urged villagers in the affected areas not to eat infected meat.
“Recently, nine people were admitted at St Peters Hospital, Chisumbanje after eating infected meat. We are urging villagers to follow the veterinary instructions on how to bury carcasses of cattle that die of anthrax,” he said.
Anthrax is caused by a relatively large spore-forming rectangular shaped bacterium called Bacillus anthracis and it is most common in wild and domestic herbivores such as cattle, sheep and goats, but can also be seen in humans exposed to tissue from infected animals, contaminated animal products or directly to spores under certain conditions.
In herbivores, anthrax commonly presents as an acute septicemia with a high fatality rate, often accompanied by haemorrhagic lymphadenitis.
Following the outbreak, movement of cattle from Chipinge has been suspended with immediate effect, and those caught moving animals from these affected areas will be penalised because the spread of the disease is partially blamed on illegal animal movements.
Natural anthrax is endemic in Zimbabwe where its bacillus spores can live for decades in dry soil and are ingested by animals ruminating for remnants of vegetation in the driest months of September and October.
Anthrax outbreaks happen occasionally in livestock herds and wild animals in Zimbabwe.
Animals typically contract the disease by ingesting or inhaling spores that can survive in soil for decades.
Once infected, livestock can die within hours.
Humans usually get anthrax through direct contact with infected livestock, often when spores get into a cut on the skin or eating infected carcasses.
Without treatment, anthrax can be fatal, but early treatment with antibiotics is very effective.
