Authorities in Zambia have urged members of the public to steer clear of meat from wildlife carcasses after an anthrax outbreak killed dozens of anima
Authorities in Zambia have urged members of the public to steer clear of meat from wildlife carcasses after an anthrax outbreak killed dozens of animals, including hippos, elephants, buffalo and at least one crocodile.
A disaster management official said over the weekend that 12 people had already fallen ill after eating meat from dead wildlife in the Munyamadzi River area, and warned residents against consuming any animal that had died from unknown or natural causes.
Officials have also suspended hunting in the affected zone while investigations continue into how far the outbreak has spread.
The deaths have been recorded in the Munyamadzi Game Management Area in Muchinga province, where Zambia’s Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit reported that 46 hippos, eight elephants, five buffaloes and one crocodile have died since July.
According to the unit’s national coordinator, Norman Chipakupaku, the tragedy has been compounded by local communities scavenging the carcasses for food, a practice residents rely on given limited alternative food sources in the area.
No human deaths have so far been linked to this outbreak, and the 12 confirmed cases are currently receiving treatment.
Anthrax, caused by the bacterium Bacillus anthracis, survives for long periods as dormant spores in soil before infecting animals through inhalation or open wounds, and it primarily affects grazing species, often causing sudden death.
While the disease is endemic to Zambia, large-scale human outbreaks are rare: the country’s worst recent episode came in 2023, when an outbreak described as unprecedented killed four people and reached nine of the country’s ten provinces, while an earlier outbreak in 2011 infected more than 500 people and killed five after they consumed meat from infected hippos.
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