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In a follow-up on the anthrax outbreak in Sierra Leone, as of 17 June 2022, a total of six anthrax cases were reported including five confirmed cases and one probable case. The majority of them are among the age group of 15 years and above (43%) followed by 12-59 months ( 29%), 0-11 months (14%) and 5-15 years ( 14%).

The Ministry of Health and Sanitation in Sierra Leone has declared an outbreak of human anthrax in the country after identifying three lab-confirmed cutaneous anthrax cases in the Karene district. An investigation was conducted as a follow-up to reports of sickness and death of animals in the adjacent Port Loko district between March and April, with reported consumption of meat in surrounding communities.

Anthrax is a serious infectious disease caused by gram-positive, rod-shaped bacteria known as Bacillus anthracis. Anthrax can be found naturally in soil and commonly affects domestic and wild animals around the world. Although it is rare, people can get sick with anthrax if they come in contact with infected animals or contaminated animal products

Cutaneous anthrax occurs when the spore (or possibly the bacterium) enters a cut or abrasion on the skin. It starts out as a raised bump that looks like an insect bite. It then develops into a blackened lesion called an eschar that may form a scab. Lymph glands in the area may swell plus edema may be present. This form of anthrax responds well to antibiotics. If untreated, deaths can occur if the infection goes systemic. 95% of cases of anthrax are cutaneous.

Four people have been killed and eight wounded in a bar in eastern South Africa after two men fired indiscriminately at customers, police said, on the same night as a bar shooting in Soweto left 15 dead.
Police were trying to verify if the attacks were linked, they said, noting their similarity.

On Saturday night in the city of Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu-Natal province, two entered the bar and “fired random shots at the patrons” before fleeing, local police spokesman Nqobile Gwala said.
South Africa: 15 dead after gunmen open fire at a bar in Soweto township
“A total of 12 people were shot. Two people were declared dead at the scene and the other two died in hospital,” he said.

“Another eight people are still in hospital after they sustained injuries.”
The dead were aged between 30 and 45.
The attack occurred about 8.30 pm at a tavern in a semi-rural area 20km (12 miles) from Pietermaritzburg in the country’s east, close to a car wash and a liquor store, according to an AFP reporter on the scene.
The mayor, Mzimkhulu Thebola, said the assault was over very quickly without any robbery, conversation, or fight.

“Every week we get news of people that have just been shot at randomly,” he said.
Blood stains were seen on the ground in front of the bar.
In Soweto hours later, gunmen killed 15 people and injured eight in a shooting at a tavern at a township close to Johannesburg.

A police investigator and forensic personnel at the scene of the Soweto bar shooting

“When we arrived at the scene, 12 people were dead with gunshot wounds,” police officer Nonhlanhla Kubheka said.

Eleven people were taken to hospital, and three later succumbed to their wounds. The dead were aged 19 to 35 and included two women, provincial police chief Elias Mawela said.

There were no details regarding the assailants, he said, and forensic police were still collecting evidence.
The two deadly attacks came two weeks after the mysterious deaths of 22 people, mostly teenagers, in still unclear circumstances at a township tavern last month in the southern city of East London.