ANTHRAX: Nigeria announces measures to stop disease importation

The Nigerian government on Tuesday release a public health advisory to guard against the importation of anthrax disease into the country from Ghana.

The advisory announced the constitution of a national anthrax technical working group charged with the implementation of public health safety measures.

According to a statement jointly released by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention and signed by Nigeria’s Chief Veterinary Officer,  Dr. Columba Vakuru and the Director-General of NCDC, Dr Ifedayo Adetifa, the FMARD and the National One Health Coordinating Unit (NOHCU) have taken notice of the outbreak of the disease in both animal and human in Ghana.

The statement, however, emphasized that there was no suspected and or confirmed case of the disease in Nigeria.

Other Safety Measures

Beyond the constitution of the national anthrax technical working group, the federal government has also direct the dissemination of notification release informing the public, especially veterinarians and other high risk group of the outbreak, development of an Incident Action Plan to define response in the event of an importation case; sustenance of sensitization programs on Anthrax. Conduction of a risk assessment to ascertain the likelihood of the introduction of the disease into the country and the severity of the impact of the disease in the event of an outbreak. ? Conduction of surveillance in high-risk areas and ring vaccination of at-risk animals in frontline states.

Reason for Concern

Nigeria does not share border with Ghana, however, the two countries have trade affinity. The transmissible nature of the disease can easily be transmitted through bother movement of both humans and animals.

Mandate of the National Anthrax Technical Work Group

According to the statement, the FMARD-led national anthrax TWG is charged with the responsibility to coordinate response and preventive actions across the country. The group is a multisectoral and multidisciplinary group with stakeholders from the human, animal, and environmental health sectors, as well as development partners.

Who is at Risk

Both animal and humans are at risk of contracting the disease and caution must be taken when dealing with animals. The disease can be transmitted contact with infected animals, ingestion of contaminated meat or inhalation of anthrax spores.