World at ‘high risk’ of deadly flesh-eating Anthrax virus, claim panicked docs

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The world is at “high risk” of the deadly flesh-eating virus known as Anthrax, at top medical expert has warned.

Earlier this week, the Daily Star reported how Anthrax, first spotted in 1752, had already made its way to Europe after causing chaos in Zambia – with the virus detected in 684 people as of November 20. Of those cases, four deaths had also been reported, and it had been seen in nine of the country's 10 provinces.

Then, just days later, the World Health Organization (WHO) said 20 people have died as a result of the virus in the last month, and it had spread to four other countries – Kenya, Malawi, Uganda and Zimbabwe. The bulk of the deaths have been reported in Uganda, with 13. It has already been seen in Europe, after three cases were discovered in Romania in August, but they are no longer thought to be ongoing.

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But now, a leading medical expert has said that the rest of the world is at high risk of contracting the virus.

Professor Willem van Schaik, Director of the Institute of Microbiology and Infection at the University of Birmingham told the Telegraph there was “high risk” of more transmissions, and that outbreaks were “far larger than usual”. And Professor Brendan Wren, Professor of Microbial Pathogenesis at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine concurred.

He said: “This is concerning because it’s spreading, and the numbers are higher than they’ve been for a while. It’s a case of education, humans need to be taught not to handle wild animals, or eat them, if they can avoid it.”

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The epicentre is still thought to be the Sinazongwe district of Zambia, with 287 cases being found there. The overall 684 cases country-wide beats Zambia's previous outbreak record, which saw 511 cases reported in 2011.

A WHO spokesman said earlier this week: "The risk at the regional level is considered high due to the frequent movement of both animals and people between Zambia and its neighbouring countries (such as Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe).

“This is compounded by the confirmed cases of anthrax spreading in provinces located along the basin of the Zambezi, Kafue, and Luangwa rivers. These rivers ultimately flow into Lake Kariba in Zimbabwe, the Kahora Bassa lake in Mozambique, and Lake Malawi."

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According to the Mayo Clinic, Anthrax has several different symptoms, depending on which version you get – with the worst case scenario for all version being death.

However, if you inhale the spores – the worst possible version – the symptoms are:

• Flu-like symptoms for a few hours or days, such as sore throat, mild fever, fatigue and muscle aches

• Mild chest discomfort

• Shortness of breath

• Nausea

• Coughing up blood

• Painful swallowing

• High fever

• Trouble breathing

• Shock — an acute medical condition involving collapse of the circulatory system

• Meningitis

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