- Mysterious Disease Claims Zimbabwe Livestock but Villagers
Eat the Meat Anyway
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- Hello Jeff - The fact that the villagers are eating the
carcasses of the dead animals is really one that is hard to believe.
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- On one hand, the villagers state that they have never
seen the "disease" before yet, the villagers have no fear of
eating the meat from these dead animals.
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- Zimbabwe is still quite active with Anthrax outbreaks,
and one would think that the villagers in the farming communities would
be aware of Anthrax.
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- From the description, or I should say lack of disease
description, it is very hard to determine if the source of the animal deaths
is a virus, bacteria or a toxic poisoning such as Ergot poisoning.
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- I suppose we will have to wait for foreign disease experts
to arrive on the scene.
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- Patty
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- Mysterious Disease Claims Livestock
- SundayNews.co.zw
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- More than 100 cattle have reportedly died in the Linda-Mandali
village of Mangwe District from what the villagers believe is a mysterious
disease. The deaths are reported to have caused a serious strain on the
farming season preparations in the area.
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- According to villagers from the area, the only noticeable
symptom was that the cows suddenly became weak and then within a space
of a few hours they collapsed and died. They said the disease seemed to
be contagious, as most families who had lost livestock had lost more than
one. One family from the area reportedly lost 15 cows in one week.
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- Speaking to Sunday News last week, councillor for Ward
3 in the district, Mr Benedict Ndlovu, said the situation was getting out
of control and the villagers had nowhere to turn to as their efforts to
report to the department of veterinary services in the area were in vain.
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- "Most of the villagers here have lost so many cattle
that this is going to set them back when farming starts. We need help otherwise
the disease will wipe out the entire village. We are a farming community
and cattle are our most prized possessions," he said.
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- Villagers in the area maintained that the illness was
strange as they had never seen or heard of anything like it. They said
in a day a family could lose up to 3 cows. Of concern, however, is that
some villagers are said to be eating the carcases of the dead cows, raising
fears of health risks.
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- "All these cows are dying and there is all this
meat lying around, do you expect us to just let it rot like that? No, we
are eating it, and anyway no one has died yet from eating it," said
a man who identified himself as Mr Ncube.
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- When contacted for comment, the Plumtree veterinary services
department staff was not at liberty to comment as the doctor-in-charge
of the Plumtree office was said to be away. However, an animal disease
specialist who spoke to Sunday News speculated that the deaths might be
a result of hunger, as a lot of grazing land had been destroyed by veld
fires in the Matabeleland South region.
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- "Veld fires are destroying a lot of grazing land
and as a result most livestock starve and end up dying in large numbers.
If you look closely at the trend you will notice that cows are usually
the 1st victims and die quickly because they would most probably be nursing
or pregnant. The lack of food means they lack nourishment and get weak
quicker than the bulls," said the specialist.
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- The Matabeleland Provincial Veterinary Services Department
in Gwanda professed ignorance at what was happening in Plumtree, as they
had not received reports of such cases. A veterinarian from the provincial
office, who preferred anonymity, said rural farmers had a tendency of not
reporting such cases until the last minute and promised that the department
would conduct investigations on the matter. The doctor said a lot of cattle
in the region were in very poor condition because of hunger and attributed
the hunger to veld fires.
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- "Veld fires are causing a lot of damage in the province
and people should try by all means to prevent them. The problem is that
most rural farmers only start panicking when it affects them directly,
they don't take any action when they see it happening to other people,"
said the specialist.
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- http://www.sundaynews.co.zw/inside.aspx?sectid=4638&cat=1
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- Communicated by ProMED-mail Rapporteur Susan Baekeland
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- The above article lacks details pertaining to clinical
signs, pathological changes and epidemiological data. The comments on possible
malnutritional background are reasonable but deserve to be substantiated;
in any event, consumption of dead animals (cadavers) is not a commendable
practice, to say the least. The mass mortality could be the result of infectious
and/or non-infectious etiology, including agents (such as anthrax) or substances
which might threaten consumers' health.
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- Any results of a professional investigation, afield or/and
lab-backed, will be welcomed.
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- For the province Matabeleland South in Zimbabwe, see
http://healthmap.org/r/00WL - Mod.AS
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- Patricia A. Doyle DVM, PhD Bus Admin, Tropical Agricultural
Economics Univ of West Indies Please visit my "Emerging Diseases"
message board at: http://www.emergingdisease.org/phpbb/index.php Also
my new website: http://drpdoyle.tripod.com/ Zhan le Devlesa tai
sastimasa Go with God and in Good Health
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