The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) and the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) have jointly issued a health caution regarding the potential outbreak of anthrax in Nigeria.
Though no suspected cases yet in the country, however, the caution is in response to a confirmed outbreak of anthrax in both humans and animals, particularly cattle and sheep, reported by the Ghana Health Service since June 1, 2023.
Anthrax is a severe disease caused by the bacteria Bacillus anthracis, which can affect various animals, including wild animals and livestock such as cows, pigs, camels, sheep, and goats.
The statement, signed by Dr. Columba Vakuru, the Chief Veterinary Officer of Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Agriculture, and Dr. Ifedayo Adetifa, the Director General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), affirms that there are currently no suspected or confirmed cases of anthrax in Nigeria. However, given the close relationship between Nigeria and Ghana, which involves the movement of humans and animals across borders as well as strong trade ties, the risk of disease importation is high.
Therefore, the FMARD and NCDC emphasize the need for caution and vigilance. Measures should be taken to prevent the importation and spread of anthrax in Nigeria. This includes enhanced surveillance at border points, especially those connecting Nigeria and Ghana, as well as heightened awareness and education campaigns targeting farmers, livestock owners, and healthcare professionals.
The statement concludes by indicating the agencies’ commitment to collaborating with relevant stakeholders to prevent and control any potential outbreak of anthrax in the country.
“Therefore, government has put in place certain measures including, establishment of a National Anthrax Technical Working Group (TWG), dissemination of information to notify veterinarians, cattle rearers and the public of the outbreak in the northern region of Ghana.”
It listed other measures being taken to include the development of an Incident Action Plan i.e., an initial response plan in the situation where there was an imported case(s) of anthrax in animals, continuous sensitisation programs on Anthrax, and conduction of a risk assessment to ascertain the likelihood of the introduction of the disease into the country and the severity of the impact of the disease in the event of an outbreak.
The federal government also stated that it was conducting surveillance in high-risk areas following findings from the risk assessment conducted.
The statement added: “The FMARD-led national anthrax TWG is a multi-sectoral and multidisciplinary group with stakeholders from the human, animal, and environmental health sectors, as well as partners, charged with the responsibility to coordinate response and preventive actions across the country.”
Anthrax affects humans in three ways: Skin infection, i.e., direct contact with infected animals through wounds or cuts.
Other ways of infection can be through gastrointestinal, that is through eating raw or undercooked meat of infected animals or their products including milk.
It can also be contacted through Inhalation.
The most common is a skin infection, where people become infected by handling animals or animal by-products that contain spores. This commonly happens to veterinarians, agricultural workers, livestock producers or butchers dealing with sick animals, or when the infection has been spread by wool or hides.
Anthrax can cause symptoms such as high fever, weakness, loss of appetite, bleeding from all body openings (nose, mouth, ears, anus etc.), swelling and difficulty in breathing and bloody diarrhoea. It can lead to sudden death in most cases. The blood of an animal that has been infected with anthrax does not clot on slaughter.
