Anthrax control and research, with special reference to national programme development in Africa: memorandum from a WHO meeting.

The prevalence of anthrax in both animal and human populations has been increasing in Africa. It was therefore appropriate for this WHO meeting to be convened in an endemic area of the Western Province of Zambia in 1992. The participants reviewed anthrax epidemiology and control in some African countries, elaborated national anthrax control and research programmes in Africa, discussed international cooperation and work plans, and elaborated recommendations for anthrax control in Africa. The discussions centred on anthrax surveillance and reporting systems, diagnosis, vaccine production and immunization, disinfection and decontamination, carcass disposal, treatment of human cases, health systems, as well as intersectorial cooperation between public health services, veterinary services and other services such as wildlife conservation, so that national control programmes could take full account of the conditions prevailing in epidemic situations in Africa. The recommendations are applicable in other regions where anthrax poses similar problems in public, animal and environmental health.