Scientists warn of anthrax: Unusually large outbreak

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Scientists warn of anthrax Unusually large outbreak
full screen Almost 700 cases of anthrax have been reported since November 20. Photo: Getty Images/iStockphoto

Anthrax is spreading at an alarming rate in Africa, WHO warns.

So far, over 1,100 suspected cases have been detected in five countries.

– The outbreaks are much larger than normal, says microbiologist Willem van Schaik at the University of Birmingham.

The dreaded infectious disease anthrax, which was used as a biological weapon in the USA and the Soviet Union, is spreading on the African continent.

According to the WHO, 20 deaths have been reported this year, 13 of them in Uganda. A total of 1,166 suspected cases and 37 confirmed cases have been registered.

The cases have been detected in Kenya, Malawi, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Outbreaks usually occur in the countries every year. But Zambia has experienced its worst in 12 years, and in Malawi it is the first time a person has been infected.

full screen 26 people are suspected of having become ill from hippopotamus meat. Photo: John Minchillo/AP

Got sick from hippo meat

WHO views the outbreak in Zambia most seriously. Almost 700 cases have been reported since November 20. In one case, 26 people are suspected of having fallen ill after eating infected hippo meat, reportr AP.

Scientists are now working hard to find out why the disease is spreading faster than normal. Possible theories are climate change causing severe drought and thus food shortages, lack of preventive vaccines and risky handling of infected meat.

Willem van Schaik, professor of microbiology and infectious diseases, says The Telegraph that there is a “high risk” of continued spread in the affected countries.

full screen Fighting anthrax in Indonesia 2022. Photo: Binsar Bakkara / AP

Case in Romania

Anthrax usually only affects animals such as cows, sheep and goats. Humans can become infected through contact with animals. The disease is not considered to be contagious between humans.

In Europe, anthrax has occurred in recent years mainly in Southern and Eastern Europe, such as France, Italy, Greece, Hungary and Albania.

Most recently, three cases were detected in Romania in August this year.

FACT Anthrax

  • Anthrax (also called anthrax) is a serious bacterial infectious disease. It is caused by a bacterium that can affect many different animals, especially ruminants.
  • The disease occurs all over the world. It is a zoonosis, that is, a disease that can be transmitted between animals and humans. Cases among humans are extremely rare in Sweden. The last known Swedish case of anthrax in a human occurred in 1965
  • Skin infection is most common and occurs via previously damaged skin (e.g. wounds or eczema). Infection can also be transmitted by inhaling bacterial spores, for example in dust from wool. Ingestion of infected meat can also cause anthrax in the throat or in the gastrointestinal tract.
  • If you become infected via the skin, the disease often begins as a wound that becomes permanent and deep. Most of the time, the wound does not hurt. The bacteria in the wound then spread in the body and can cause sepsis which is a serious illness.
  • In the fall of 2001, letters containing anthrax spores were spread in the United States by an unknown person, causing several cases of illness and some deaths.

    • Source: 1177 and The Public Health Authority.

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