Suspected anthrax outbreak in Madi Okollo

Arua, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Madi Okollo District authorities are investigating a suspected outbreak of Anthrax disease.

This follows the death of three animals from a kraal in Payonga village, Panduku parish in Pawor Sub County.

Walter Avaga, the assistant veterinary health officer in charge of Lower Madi County says that the animals died suddenly after presenting swollen abdomen before death.

According to Avaga, the two most important measures to control this potential outbreak is for farmers to vaccinate their animals and the safe disposal of carcasses of the dead animal.

The Madi Okollo District Veterinary Officer Dr. Charles Onzima appeals for calm saying, they have picked samples and submitted them to the Infectious Diseases Institute (IDI) and are waiting for the results.

However, Robert Onenarach, the LCIII Chairperson has blamed the persisting cases of the disease on the negligence of some residents who continue to defy instructions to bury carcasses of animals suspected to have died of the disease.

Anthrax is one of the endemic animal diseases in the West Nile region, something largely blamed on the porous borders, the wildlife reserves at the Nile belt, and the animals that were brought by the refugee community that was never examined.

Most anthrax infections occur among animals, with occasional spread to humans. Human infections often result from handling and consuming the meat of infected livestock.

In February 2018, an Anthrax outbreak was detected in Rhino Camp Sub County where three people were infected and six animals died.

According to records from the Arua district veterinary department between March 2017 to August 2018, Anthrax killed 1,087 animals while 248 humans had also been infected.

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