Reanalysis of the anthrax epidemic in Rhodesia, 1978-1984

PeerJ. 2016 Nov 10:4:e2686. doi: 10.7717/peerj.2686. eCollection 2016.

Abstract

In the mid-1980s, the largest epidemic of anthrax of the last 200 years was documented in a little known series of studies by Davies in The Central African Journal of Medicine. This epidemic involved thousands of cattle and 10,738 human cases with 200 fatalities in Rhodesia during the Counterinsurgency. Grossly unusual epidemiological features were noted that, to this day, have not been definitively explained. This study performed a historical reanalysis of the data to reveal an estimated geographic involvement of 245,750 km2, with 171,990 cattle and 17,199 human cases. Here we present the first documented geotemporal visualization of the human anthrax epidemic.

Keywords: Anthrax; Biodefense; Rhodesia.

Grants and funding

The University of Nevada-Reno School of Community Health Science financially supported this study. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.