Zambia warns against eating wildlife as anthrax outbreak infects 12 people

Twelve people in Zambia are now under medical care for anthrax after eating meat from wild animals that died in recent weeks. The outbreak centers on the Munyamadzi Game Management Area in Muchinga province, where authorities have documented a stark toll on wildlife: 46 hippos, eight elephants, five buffalo, and one crocodile have perished since July. The connection between the dead animals and the infected people is direct and grim. Local residents, facing food scarcity, turned to the carcasses as a source of protein—a survival choice that exposed them to the bacterium Bacillus anthracis, which causes anthrax and can spread to humans through contact with contaminated meat.

Zambia's Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit issued an urgent warning over the weekend, urging the public to avoid consuming meat from any animal that has died suddenly or from unknown causes. The unit's national coordinator, Norman Chipakupaku, framed the crisis in terms of desperation: the wildlife deaths themselves are tragic, but the real tragedy is that local people depend on such meat for survival. He called on residents to report any cases of dead animals and to refrain from hunting, selling, distributing, or handling potentially contaminated flesh. The government has also suspended all hunting in the affected area until the full scope of the outbreak can be determined.

Anthrax is not new to Zambia. The bacterium is endemic to the country's soil, where its spores can survive dormant for years before infecting grazing animals through inhalation or wounds. Most of the time, human cases are rare. But the disease has flared catastrophically before. In 2011, an outbreak tied to infected hippo meat sickened more than 500 people and killed five. More recently, in 2023, Zambia experienced what officials described as an unprecedented outbreak that claimed four lives and spread across nine of the country's ten provinces. The current situation, while serious, has not yet resulted in deaths—all twelve infected people are receiving treatment—but authorities are still mapping the outbreak's true reach. Surveillance and laboratory investigations are ongoing, and officials have not yet determined how far the disease has spread geographically.

The mechanics of anthrax transmission are straightforward but unforgiving. The bacterium enters the body through contaminated meat, and from there it can cause severe illness. The disease primarily affects livestock and wild grazing animals, often killing them suddenly. Once a carcass is exposed to the elements, the risk to anyone who handles or consumes it rises sharply. In a region where wildlife meat represents a crucial food source and where poverty limits alternatives, the warning against eating such meat amounts to a difficult choice: go hungry or risk infection. Authorities have also advised the public against handling wild animals altogether, a precaution that acknowledges how easily the disease can jump species. The investigation continues, and so does the wait to see whether the twelve cases remain isolated or whether the outbreak expands.