Nigeria may have had index instances of anthrax, a bacterial illness that infects humans and animals.
According to NAN, the Chief Veterinary Officer of Nigeria, Columba Vakuru, issued a statement on Monday from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
Mr. Vakuru told his office on July 14 that livestock on a farm in Suleja, Niger State, showed indications of anthrax.
The statement reads, “The case was in a multi-specie animal farm comprising cattle, sheep and goats located at Gajiri, along Abuja-Kaduna motorway in Suleja Local Government Area, Niger State, where some of the animals had symptoms including oozing of blood from their body openings – anus, nose, eyes and ears.”
About Anthrax
Experts say anthrax outbreaks are frequent and usually harm agricultural workers.
NAN stated that touching anthrax-contaminated wool, hide, or bone makes people ill.
Bacillus anthracis causes anthrax. The soil-dwelling bacterium generally affects goats, cattle, and sheep.
According to the CDC, pulmonary anthrax sufferers have the greatest fatality rate (92%) and risk of respiratory collapse.
Anthrax-infected animal meat may cause gastrointestinal anthrax, according to the CDC.
“This is the rarest type of anthrax in the US, but it may be deadly: 20–60% of all gastrointestinal-anthrax cases end in death,” it warned.
The most prevalent type of illness, cutaneous anthrax, is obtained when bacterium spores enter the body via a wound or scrape.
Antibiotics cure cutaneous anthrax best.
Workers who prepare wool and animal skins are most likely to inhale anthrax.
Anthrax spores were delivered to multiple news media offices and politicians in September 2001, killing five and sickening 17.
Conversely, in October 2014, a community in Jharkhand, India, had a gastrointestinal and cutaneous anthrax epidemic that killed seven individuals. In July 2016, about 100 nomadic people in northern Siberia were hospitalised with the illness.
The Canadian government is investigating a possible bison epidemic in the Northwest Territories.
The International Organisation on Animal Health (WOAH) states that direct exposure to active Bacillus anthracis (BA) bacteria or spores causes illness.
The WOAH indicated that BA protection depends on the kind of employment and awareness of exposure risk, including the possibility of spore release from an unintentional or purposeful occurrence.
It recommended adapting infection control techniques based on hazard assessments to adopt infection preventive and control measures such as engineering and administrative controls, safe work practices, and personal protective equipment (PPE).
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) warned that Ghana’s anthrax epidemic posed a serious public health threat to Nigeria.
The agency’s director general, Ifedayo Adetifa, and the Chief Veterinary Officer of Nigeria, Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Columba Vakuru, issued a combined public health alert.
Nigerians were advised against non-essential travel to northern Ghana, particularly the Upper East Region, where the epidemic was recorded.
Anthrax is caused by Bacillus anthracis. The soil-based bacteria attack goats, cattle, and sheep.
