Anthrax Outbreaks: List Of African Countries With Endemic Cases

<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h4>&NewLine;Anthrax Outbreaks<&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;">OpenLife Nigeria<&sol;a> <&sol;strong>reports that five countries in East and southern Africa are experiencing anthrax outbreaks&comma; with more than 1100 suspected cases and 20 related deaths reported since the start of the year&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>A total of 1166 suspected and 37 confirmed cases have been recorded in Kenya&comma; Malawi&comma; Uganda&comma; Zambia and Zimbabwe – where the disease is endemic&comma; with seasonal outbreaks every year – according to data reported to World Health Organization &lpar;WHO&rpar;&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Of the five countries&comma; Zambia is witnessing its largest outbreak since 2011&comma; with nine of its 10 provinces affected&period; As of 20 November&comma; Zambia had reported 684 suspected&comma; 25 confirmed cases and four deaths&period; Only sporadic cases have previously been reported in animals and humans in the country&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The outbreaks are presenting varied patterns in the affected countries&period; In Kenya&comma; three deaths have been reported this year compared with zero fatalities from over 200 suspected cases in 2022&period; While the disease is endemic in animals in Malawi&comma; the country reported its first ever human case this year&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Human anthrax cases have been reported in three districts in Uganda&comma; with 13 deaths compared with two deaths in 2022&period; The high case fatality ratio is due to patients reporting late to health facilities&period; In Zimbabwe&comma; human cases have been reported every year since 2019&comma; underscoring the need for stronger preventive actions&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;To end these outbreaks we must break the cycle of infection by first preventing the disease in animals&period; We are supporting the ongoing national outbreak control efforts by providing expertise as well as reinforcing collaboration with partner agencies for a common approach to safeguard human and animal health&comma;” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti&comma; WHO Regional Director for Africa&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Anthrax is a bacterial disease that commonly affects domestic and wild herbivores&period; Humans acquire the disease through contact with infected animal carcasses or exposure to contaminated animal products&period; Animal-to-animal and human-to-human transmission of anthrax does not typically occur&comma; although rare records of person-to-person transmission have been reported with cutaneous anthrax&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Cutaneous anthrax is the most common of the three forms of the disease&period; It accounts for more than 95&percnt; of human cases worldwide&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Joint multidisciplinary teams have deployed at country level to support assessments&comma; identify gaps and take measures to strengthen the outbreak response&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>WHO is also working closely with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations &lpar;FAO&rpar;&comma; United Nations Environment Programme and World Organisation for Animal Health to coordinate response in the affected countries leveraging the One Health Platforms&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;reubenabati&period;com&period;ng&sol;">The outbreaks are likely being driven by multiple factors&comma; including climatic shocks&comma; food insecurity&comma; low risk perception and exposure to the disease through handling the meat of infected animals&period;<&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Due to the scale of the outbreak in Zambia&comma; shared ecosystem with neighbouring countries and frequent cross-border animal and human movement&comma; there is heightened risk of regional spread of the disease&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Control measures are being intensified&period; The national authorities have vaccinated more than 122 000 cattle&comma; sheep and goats with support from FAO&period; Additionally more than 400 000 vaccine doses have been earmarked for 11 high-risk districts in the country’s Western province&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Public health measures are also being stepped up in Malawi including enhancing public awareness&comma; disease surveillance&comma; diagnosis&comma; treatment&comma; animal vaccination as well as proper handling of animal products and disposal of carcass&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>In Kenya&comma; control measures are being implemented to halt the outbreak&comma; while in Zimbabwe disease surveillance&comma; among other measures&comma; is being reinforced to ensure early detection of cases&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Human anthrax infections are recurrent in countries with frequent livestock infections&comma; with the highest incidences recorded in Africa&comma; the Middle East&comma; Central and South Asia&period; Hospitalization is required for all human cases of anthrax&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Individuals potentially exposed to anthrax spores may be provided with prophylactic treatment&period; Anthrax responds well to antibiotics&comma; which need to be prescribed by a medical professional&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>Source&colon;World Health Organization<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;