Rural poor eat anthrax carcasses

In an exclusive interview, Ministry of Health and Child Welfare Director of Epidemiology and Disease Control, Portia Manangazira said there have been reports of anthrax outbreaks in the Manicaland, Midlands and Mashonaland East and Matabeleland Provinces where people are drying the meat and consuming it as biltong.

“The biggest problem we are facing is that the communities are reluctant to burn the carcasses. Instead, they eat the meat the dry when the cattle die,” said Manangazira, adding that burning was the most effective way of getting rid of anthrax.

Manangazira said that so far this year a total of 32 cases of the disease have been recorded without any deaths. “In 2012 over 162 cases of anthrax and one death were recorded across the country,” she said.

She added that the best way to get prevent anthrax spreading to humans was to vaccinate the animals and thoroughly cooking of meat through boiling.

“Prevention is better than cure and we need to vaccinate our animals all the time so that we prevent anthrax from spreading into human and people should avoid animals that die on their own,” said Manangazira.

Anthrax has an incubation period of seven days, but it can take up to 60 days or longer for symptoms to develop depending on how the infection is acquired.

“In Zimbabwe we have Cutaneous Anthrax which usually occurs when spores from the bacteria enter a cut or scrape on the skin especially the alimentary canal system when eating.

“Major symptoms are skin infections which begin as a small, raised bump that might itch-similar to an insect bite,” said Manangazira, adding that with a day or two the bump develops into a fluid-filled blister which is usually painless. Other symptoms are general fever and headaches.

In 2009 Zimbabwe recorded an outbreak of anthrax that killed at least 1,500 wild animals in Malangwe and Save conservancies.

“Anthrax is endemic in Zimbabwe and its bacillus spores can live in dry soil and are ingested by animals ruminating of vegetation in the driest months of September and October. Most recorded outbreaks are in Mutare, Gokwe, Mutoko and other districts in Matabeleland Provinces,” she said.