Zambia has vaccinated more than 96,000 domestic animals against anthrax in the country's Southern Province, Provincial Minister Credo Nanjuwa said Sunday.
Anthrax has recently spread to six of the country's 10 provinces, 335 individuals were infected and at least four of them have died, according to health officials.
On November 1, Minister of Health Sylvia Masebo issued a statement declaring the disease a threat to Zambia's public health security and urging citizens with symptoms to visit their nearest health facilities for urgent examination.
According to Nanjuwa, Southern Province, which was the epicenter of the outbreak, has not recorded a single case of anthrax in the last two days, following the mass vaccination was conducted.
He explained that based on the good results of the vaccination process, Zambia could be out of the challenge in the next 15 days.
"We are progressing and going by this rate, I think that in the next two weeks, we will be out of this challenge," Mr. Nanjuwa stated.
Anthrax is a disease caused by spore-forming bacteria that produce extremely potent toxins causing a high mortality rate. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the disease does not spread from person to person (anthroponotic) or animal to animal, but when exposed to oxygen, it produces spores that can survive for years in soil or animal hair. Humans can contract the disease from infected animals.