A MYSTERY disease which has killed as many as 17 people has been confirmed as the deadly warfare bug, anthrax, health officials revealed.
Those infected during the outbreak in Uganda, Africa, suffered rashes and swollen limbs before dying.
AFPAnthrax, a serious bacterial infection typically found in soil, is believed to be the cause[/caption]
As many as 40 are thought to have fallen ill in recent weeks in the district of Kyotera.
Last week, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) ruled out the possibility that anthrax could be behind the outbreak.
But since, local officials have said tests found the bacterial infection typically infecting cows, sheep, and goats.
Dr Edward Muwanga, Kyotera’s district health officer, told The Telegraph: “The disease has been confirmed as anthrax.
“So we now know what we’re dealing with.”
“People started falling ill in October, and we think they contracted anthrax from eating carcasses of dead cows because 25 cattle have died of the disease in this area.”
Local media have put the death toll at up to 17.
Pontiano Kalebu, of the Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI) also confirmed the mysterious disease was anthrax.
“Yes, tests were carried out here and anthrax was confirmed from the samples,” he said.
What is anthrax?
Anthrax is a serious infectious disease caused by bacteria known as Bacillus anthracis.
It occurs naturally in soil and commonly affects domestic and wild animals, which can transmit the disease to humans.
The symptoms of anthrax can take up to two months to appear in humans.
Direct contact with anthrax can cause raised boil-like lesions on the skin, which develop a black centre.
If you inhale anthrax spores, they can cause damage to the lungs, which is often fatal.
Even if treated, it can spread throughout the body and cause severe illness and even death.
Anthrax has also been developed into a potentially devastating biological weapon by several countries, with Japan being the first country to use it to kill human beings.
It was first trialled as a bioweapon in Manchuria in the 1930s, and some 10,000 deliberately infected prisoners were thought to have died.
Gruinard Island – also known as known as “Anthrax Island” – in Scotland, was the centre of Britain’s experiments with anthrax during World War Two.
For decades, Gruinard Island was too dangerous to allow public access, but it is now said to be ‘safe’.
What are the symptoms?
The symptoms of anthrax depend on the type of infection and can take anywhere from one day to more than two months to appear.
General signs include skin ulcers, nausea, vomiting and fever.
It is rare in humans. In 2006 an artist from Hawick in the Scottish borders was the first to die from the disease in Britain for 32 years.
A musician from London died in 2008.
In both cases, the men were thought to have caught the disease from imported animal skins.
The last case in animals in Britain was also in 2006, when two cows died on a farm in Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales.
All unexplained deaths of cattle are investigated for anthrax.
The death of 100 hippos covered in bruises and unexplained marks in a river in Namibia was thought to be from anthrax, although government officials said they died of natural causes.