By Fatima Saka
Following the recent outbreak of Anthrax on livestock, an expert urged Nigerians to watch out for symptoms and signs, saying that animals that died of anthrax disease will show signs of blood coming out of the eyes, nose, ears, and other natural openings in the body of the animals.
A veterinary Doctor, Dr. Abubakar Alhassan revealed this to our Correspondent in Abuja on Thursday.
He further stressed that the blood doesn’t clot, and that it can also affect humans, when the animals that are infected, and the meat are not properly cooked.
Speaking on how the disease is transmitted, Dr. Alhassan said it can easily be transmitted through the eating of this bush meat, adding that the bacteria is a microorganism that survives in animals, “especially the wild animals that eat infected animals, you know wild animals eat meat to survive. So like an animal like a lion or tiger that haunts a cattle that is infected, it also becomes infected, that is where the disease spreads in the wild animals”.
The veterinary Doctor, also stressed that the disease can affect a whole community within a short time, that Hunter haunts wild animals, “once they brought the bushmeat and people started consuming it, they’ll get infected, so that’s a problem too, and it begins to spread within that community, within a shortest time.”
Speaking on how the anthrax disease can also spread within the environment space,
He said: “Many times if an animal dies of a suspected case like this very disease, we normally prefer people to do what we call the incineration method of disposal.
“Deep burial of the animals, in this area you have to apply a chemical which we call lime, we apply lime to cover the carcass, dead body of the animal and bury it with solid.
Meanwhile, “if it is not done with the lime there is tendency of those organisms won’t shed in the blood. It can decompose the animal decomposing inside the soil. They too will find themselves within the soil and hide themselves and will last for more than 10 years in the soil.”
Speaking on the escalation of human activities of the disease, the doctor said mining activities, people mining gold will bring it up and when there is flooding in an area, the flood will wash off the topsoil, and it will bring out the soil that has been buried by such animals. It will now flow out with water within the environment.
“And the flood flowed where there are animals grazing in the bush, with this water reaching the bush to water the grasses, then organisms will stick to the grasses and then animals will become affected.
”This is also where it spreads and when people eat the animals, they also become affected. This is the method of how the bacteria spread and within a short time, it can affect the community.”
Also, speaking with butcher, Mr. Friday Nwobobo, the chairman of Igbo Butchers in Itako market FCT Abuja, said with the help of veterinary doctors they were able to detect more of these bacteria and diseases on meats.
He urged the consumers to look out for good meat and not fall victim to meats that affected diseases.
The chairman of Igbo Butchers further appealed to the government to bring all the butchers under one umbrella to be able to regulate all their activities and also for prevention measures.
Anthrax is a serious infectious disease caused by gram-positive, rod-shaped bacteria known as Bacillus anthracis. It occurs naturally in soil and commonly affects domestic and wild animals around the world. People can get sick with anthrax if they come in contact with infected animals or contaminated animal products. Anthrax can cause severe illness in both humans and animals.
How people get infected with anthrax
People get infected with anthrax when spores get into the body. When anthrax spores get inside the body, they can be “activated.” The bacteria can then multiply, spread out in the body, produce toxins, and cause severe illness.
This can happen when people breathe in spores, eat food or drink water contaminated with spores, or get spores in a cut or scrape in the skin. It is very uncommon for people in the United States to get infected with anthrax.
On animals, how they get infected with anthrax: Domestic and wild animals can become infected when they breathe in or ingest spores in contaminated soil, plants, or water. These animals can include cattle, sheep, goats, antelope, and deer. In areas where domestic animals have had anthrax in the past, routine vaccination can help prevent outbreaks.
Also gathered on how to prevent the spread of anthrax by vaccinating the animals and cooking the meat properly before eating.
The vaccine is available at the National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI) in plateau state.