An Investigation into a Human Anthrax Outbreak in Maragua District, Central Kenya

Abstract

An outbreak of human anthrax occurred in Maragua district between December 2005 and January 2006 and an investigation was undertaken through visits and interviews with the District Veterinary (DVO) and Public Health Officers, owners of cattle that had died, people who had butchered or eaten the meat from dead animals and patients who had been affected by the disease. It was found that 514 out of 700 people had eaten the affected meat but only 30 got clinical disease, one (1) of which was enteric and the rest twenty nine (29) were cutaneous. The attack rate appeared to have been greatly reduced by the practice of repeatedly boiling the meat and discarding the soup before eating the meat. The disease outbreak in cattle was associated with low vaccination rates of cattle against anthrax in the area, human movement, poor handling of the infected meat, and activities of scavenging dogs and chickens and possibly insects. Ignorance, retrogressive socio-cultural practices and poor socio-economic conditions were risk factors that contributed to the outbreak of the disease in humans.