DATE=12/18/00

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=ZIMBABWE / ANTHRAX (L-ONLY)

NUMBER=2-270583

BYLINE=CHALLISS McDONOUGH

DATELINE=JOHANNESBURG

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

/// EDS: WATCH CN FOR CHANGES IN DEATH TOLL;

ALTER INTRO AND CUT 1ST OPT TO CONFORM ///

INTRO: An outbreak of the livestock disease anthrax has claimed at least nine lives in Zimbabwe. Health officials say more than 600 people have been hospitalized. V-O-A's Challiss McDonough reports, regional health monitors blame the outbreak on Zimbabwe's land crisis, and fear the death toll may rise.

TEXT: The British Airways Travel Clinic, based in South Africa, monitors health conditions throughout the continent. Its medical director, Dr. Anthony Jamieson, told V-O-A Zimbabwe has had several isolated outbreaks of anthrax over the last 10 years. But he says this one has been worsened by the on-going land crisis, in which armed squatters led by veterans of Zimbabwe's independence war have invaded thousands of white-owned commercial farms, demanding that they be reallocated to landless blacks.

/// 1st JAMIESON ACT ///

It's certainly not uncommon in the whole region to have isolated outbreaks, particularly in areas where there are still pockets of wild game, because wildlife is usually the reservoir. People have ascribed this outbreak to the fact that many fences have been removed and wild animals are mixing freely with cattle.

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The disease was first detected two weeks ago in the Mhondoro area, about 100 kilometers southwest of the capital, Harare. Earlier this week, Zimbabwe's Commercial Farmers' Union reported a second, smaller outbreak in the Chinoyi area, further to the north.

/// OPT /// So far, nine people and 44 cattle have died. /// END OPT ///

Dr. Jameson believes the death toll may climb higher, because of new infections and possible under-reporting of current cases. He says Zimbabwe's health care infrastructure has suffered from the instability arising from the farm seizures.

/// 2ND JAMIESON ACT ///

I think it's important that people be aware that this could possibly develop into something more serious. And unfortunately, it's really just adding to the economic woes of Zimbabwe. The average Zimbabwean has got yet another problem in terms of their day-to-day lives.

/// END ACT ///

Anthrax is considered a particularly nasty disease - so nasty that it was part of Iraq's biological warfare arsenal before the Persian Gulf War. Unlike the foot-and-mouth disease epidemic in neighboring South Africa, humans can contract anthrax from livestock. The disease is difficult to detect in its early stages. If it is not diagnosed and treated, death comes quickly.

/// REST OPT ///

/// 3RD JAMIESON ACT ///

If treated early enough, antibiotics are definitely effective against anthrax. The problem is, you're dealing with an area where people may have to walk 20 or 30 kilometers to get to the nearest medical facility. So it's really a problematic thing, and again education is particularly important.

/// END ACT ///

Although problems have been reported with the human vaccine against anthrax, the livestock version is considered safe and effective. Zimbabwean veterinary officials are trying to immunize livestock in the area against the disease. But Zimbabwe is in the middle of a hard-currency crisis. Dr. Jamieson says that will make it harder to stop the outbreak - because the country may not have the money to buy enough vaccine. (Signed)

NEB/CEM/KL/WTW