FG warns on Anthrax outbreak in Nigeria
By Emma Ogbuehi
The Federal Government has raised fears on likelihood of an outbreak of anthrax disease in the country, stressing that the chances of the development are high.
It stressed that the risk assessment conducted by the human health sector confirmed the fears. The FG also said that the potential impact of the disease on humans is high.
These were made known on Monday night in a joint press statement signed by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Chief Veterinary Officer of Nigeria, Dr. Columba Vakuru, and the Director General of NCDC, Dr Ifedayo Adetifa.
The first case of Anthrax in the country was detected in a farm in Niger State. Government in the disclosure, said; “On 14th of July, 2023 the Office of the Chief Veterinary Officer of Nigeria was notified of animals manifesting symptoms of a suspected case of anthrax in a farm in Suleja, Niger State.
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“The case was in a multi-specie animal farm comprising of cattle, sheep and goats located at Gajiri, along Abuja-Kaduna expressway Suleja LGA Niger State, where some of the animals had symptoms including oozing of blood from their body openings – anus, nose, eyes and ears.
This is the first animal case to be reported in Nigeria since the beginning of the West Africa outbreak in Ghana in June 2023.
According to experts, Anthrax is a major zoonotic disease caused by the spore-forming bacterium Bacillus anthracis, which primarily affects animals such as cattle, sheep, and goats but can also infect humans, who come into direct contact with infected animals or consume contaminated animal products.
The disease can also be transmitted through contaminated pasture, feed and water.
The clinical signs of Anthrax in animals include sudden death and blood oozing from natural body openings (nose, ear, mouth and anal region). The spores of anthrax can persist for decades in a contaminated environment.
The government, has however, noted that it has activated the incident management system at level two with an incident manager appointed for effective coordination of the response.
