At least 31 anthrax human cases have been reported in at least two districts in Zimbabwe since the end of 2019 with 28 people diagnosed in Bikita District, Masvingo Province, and three others in Marondera District, Mashonaland East Province.
At least 27 cattle have since died from the disease in the two districts. The three human cases in Marondera were picked at a clinic in Chimbwanda small-scale farming area on Jan. 2 and confirmed at the Chinese-built Mahusekwa Hospital on Jan. 6, according to a memorandum from district veterinary office to the provincial veterinary office.
It was established that the affected people ate meat from two beasts which had died of unknown causes on Dec. 30, prompting the district veterinary office to request urgent supplies of 5,000 doses of anthrax vaccine to cover 5,534 cattle in a radius of 10 km. Vaccination is now in progress, according to a veterinary services officer in Harare. In Masvingo, veterinary services provincial officer Ernest Dzimwasha told The Herald newspaper on Sunday that most parts of Bikita East were badly affected. The government has since warned people not to consume uninspected meat
