By Ebi Kesiena
Zambia finds itself grappling with a dual public health crisis as it contends with simultaneous outbreaks of cholera and anthrax. The challenges posed by these two infectious diseases are putting a strain on the nation’s healthcare system and resources.
According to the National Institute of Public Health of Zambia, 46 of these deaths were recorded in the capital, as well as over 1,600 infections.
Four people died of cholera in the capital Lusaka in 24 hours, bringing the number of victims of this infection to 64 for the entire country since the start of the year.
Acute diarrheal infection caused by the absorption of food or water contaminated by bacteria, cholera is on the rise on the continent, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Health Minister Sylvia Masebo said the government was distributing chlorine to purify water in areas affected by the epidemic and called on the population to respect strict hygiene measures.
These new deaths come days after the WHO announced that the country was facing its worst anthrax outbreak since 2011.
Since the start of the year, the anthrax oranthrax has claimed four lives and 700 suspected cases in the country, according to the WHO.
The bacterium Bacillus anthracis, which survives for decades in the form of spores in land where animals that died of anthrax or carried the disease have been buried in the past, is transmissible to the disease. man and potentially fatal in its rarest forms.
According to the WHO, 26 of the suspected cases in Zambia come from “consumption of meat taken from the carcasses of three hippos”.
The organization warned of a “high” risk of the anthrax epidemic spreading to neighbouring countries, given “the frequent (cross-border) movements of populations and animals”.
Besides Zambia, Kenya, Malawi, Uganda and Zimbabwe have also recorded cases anthrax this year, with a total of 20 deaths and some 1,100 suspected cases.
