Deadly ‘black boil’ disease kills 17 in Uganda

A deadly ‘black boil’ disease that has killed at least 17 and left 40 others seriously ill has been confirmed by medics in Uganda.

Health officials have revealed the disease to be the deadly warfare bug anthrax, with an outbreak affecting the Kyotera district of Uganda, Africa.

The disease is believed to have killed at least 17 and affected around 40 other individuals, leaving those affected with symptoms like rashes and swollen limbs before potentially succumbing to the illness if no treatment is given.

The possibility that the outbreak was anthrax was initially dismissed by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), but tests by local authorities revealed the presence of the bacterial infection which is commonly found in cattle, sheep and goats.

The infection begins as a raised, sometimes itchy, bump resembling an insect bite. But within a day or two, the bump develops into an open but usually painless sore with a black centre.

Dr Edward Muwanga, the district health officer, confirmed the outbreak’s true nature: “The disease has been confirmed as anthrax. So we now know what we’re dealing with.

“People began falling ill in October, likely from consuming carcasses of dead cows, as 25 cattle have succumbed to the disease in this region.”

Local reports suggest a death toll of up to 17 individuals.

The World Health Organisation has also said it is spreading.

“The epidemic is spreading along the provinces located along the basin of the Zambezi, Kafue, and Luangwa rivers, which is an additional problem because these rivers also flow into Lake Kariba in Zimbabwe, Kahora Bassa in Mozambique and Lake Malawi, and the risk of anthrax transmission to neighbouring countries is increased,” a spokesman said.

“The risk at the regional level is also considered high due to the frequent movement of both animals and people between Zambia and its neighbouring countries (such as Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe).