Zimbabwe : Zimbabwe : Anthrax outbreak kills three people in Zimbabwe

Harare - A deadly outbreak of anthrax has killed two children and one adult and could wipe out at least 60 000 livestock in Zimbabwe's northern Zambezi valley region, according to Save the Children, a non profit organisation.

An emergency assessment by the United Kingdom-based Save the Children and the Ministry of Health found 32 cases of human anthrax in Binga district. Anthrax infections have also killed 160 livestock, as well as 2 elephants, 70 hippo and 50 buffalo.

The anthrax outbreak comes on top of increasing cholera infections which the government says have killed 425 people but which independent health experts estimate may have killed close to 1 000 people.

In addition to disease outbreaks, hunger is worsening in Zimbabwe, which is also suffering a severe economic crisis that critics blame on wrong policies by President Robert Mugabe in power since the country's 1980 independence from Britain.

Relief agencies say as many as two million Zimbabweans require immediate food aid and estimate this figure could shoot up to 5.1 million people by January, representing about 45 percent of the country's total population.

A Save the Children official, Rachel Pounds, described the anthrax outbreak as probably the worst in about three decades and said the food crisis was compounding the problem because hungry villagers were eating meat from infected animals instead of burning it.

"This may be the biggest anthrax outbreak since the 1979-80 civil war. Many families in the Zambezi region are so hungry that they are taking meat from their dead animals and feeding it to their children.

"If the animal has been poisoned by anthrax, those children could die," Ms Pounds said in a statement.

She added that quarantines may be in place but Zimbabwe's systems have collapsed and the restrictions will be difficult to maintain with such scant resources.

"Families no longer have a choice here. Even if they know they shouldn't sell their livestock on to traders, it's often their only lifeline of making money to feed themselves.

"The crisis in Zimbabwe has gone into freefall and world leaders and donors must respond urgently with money and food to stop the decline.

"We can save lives by helping to contain the anthrax and cholera outbreaks that are crippling the country. But we need the resources to do it," she said.

Anthrax can kill when infected meat is touched or eaten or when one inhales the anthrax spores.

Ms Pounds said her organisation had launched a global appeal for financial and other aid to combat the anthrax in Zimbabwe.

With increased resources, Save the Children's emergency team will help vaccinate cattle, provide food, training health workers and educating communities about the dangers of anthrax. - BuaNews-NNN