ETHIOPIA-ANTHRAX

WORKING WITH PARTNERS: Investigating Anthrax in Ethiopia

Why were smallholders in Ethiopia still getting sick or dying from anthrax even though a vaccine was available for this disease of livestock? That was the problem LifeStock was asked to address in 2019. For two months our team traveled in Ethiopia, interviewing medical and veterinary experts along with smallholders, to investigate what was going wrong and what might fix it. We did surveys at all levels from the farm up to the government officials overseeing animal and human health. We found there was little understanding of the disease until a community would actually experience anthrax.

Misconceptions

What do vaccines do?

There were many misconceptions about both the disease and the vaccine, with some farmers believing that the vaccine actually caused the disease. And most smallholders did not know that they could catch the disease from butchering the animals.

Inadequate training

What do vaccines do?

We discovered that the ongoing livestock vaccination campaign and training program were totally inadequate to stem anthrax infections.

PROMOTING SUSTAINABLE LIVESTOCK HEALTH IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

WORKING WITH PARTNERS: Investigating Anthrax in Ethiopia

Anthrax was killing animals - and people.

Misconceptions

What do vaccines do?

What do vaccines do?

What do vaccines do?

Inadequate training

What do vaccines do?

What do vaccines do?

Training local veterinarians