Cutaneous anthrax outbreak in Chama District, Muchinga province, Zambia, 2016 as history repeats itself

Abstract

An outbreak of anthrax has been confirmed in Chama district in Zambia affecting close to 80 persons. A previous outbreak in the same area was confirmed in 2011 with 521 humans affected and 6 human and over 80 hippos dead. To understand the disease situation and provide technical support the Ministry of Health in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) in Zambia and Center for Zoonoses control University of Zambia investigated the outbreak in various villages. The index case, a 22-year-old male presented at Pondo rural health centre with eschar invariably accompanied by oedema on the cheek with onset 22nd September 2016. More patients mostly below20 years of age from five RHCs were seen thereafter with varied lesions papules, vesicles and eschars and treated with ciprofloxacin. Most patients were associated with eating hippo meat. Various interventions were put in place to control the outbreak including case detection, case management, contact tracing and community awareness. Field investigations observed dead carcasses of Hippo and Buffalo. Bacillus anthracis was isolated from humans, buffalo, hippo and the environment confirming the outbreak link to Anthrax infection suggesting the need to strengthen surveillance, diagnosis, community sensitization and treatment of affected persons for effective disease control. The rapid response by the Ministry of Health, WHO Zambia, Center for Zoonosis Control, and ZAWA necessitated by the availability of financial resources provided by MOH and WHO Zambia contributed significantly to the timely containment of the outbreak and avoidance of any fatalities.