Practical and effective diagnosis of animal anthrax in endemic low-resource settings
Anthrax threatens human and animal health, and people’s livelihoods in many rural communities in Africa and Asia
Abstract
Anthrax threatens human and animal health, and people’s livelihoods in many rural communities in Africa and Asia. In these areas, anthrax surveillance is challenged by a lack of tools for on-site detection. Furthermore, cultural practices and infrastructure may affect sample availability and quality. Practical yet accurate diagnostic solutions are greatly needed to quantify anthrax impacts. We validated microscopic and molecular methods for the detection of Bacillus anthracis in field-collected blood smears and identified alternative samples suitable for anthrax confirmation in the absence of blood smears. We investigated livestock mortalities suspected to be caused by anthrax in northern Tanzania
This is a publication arising from the Zoonoses and Emerging Livestock Systems (ZELS) programme.
Citation
Aminu O, Lembo T, Zadoks R, Biek R, Lewis S, Kiwelu I, Mmbaga B, Mshanga D, Shirima G, Denwood M, Forde T (2020). Practical and effective diagnosis of animal anthrax in endemic low-resource settings. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 14:e0008655.
Link
Practical and effective diagnosis of animal anthrax in endemic low-resource settings