Forty-six dead hippos, one confirmed case: what we actually know about the Muchinga anthrax outbreak

Three weeks into the anthrax alert in Muchinga Province, the numbers need untangling — and the scientist doing the untangling is Zambia's own national One Health coordinator, Raymond Hamoonga.

Since the outbreak was reported on 31 August in the Munyamadzi Game Management Area and river corridor of Mpika district, 46 hippo deaths have been recorded in the affected riverine area. But anthrax has been laboratory-confirmed in only one animal, Hamoonga told Mongabay this week. Samples from five buffalo carcasses tested negative, and samples from ten elephants reported dead since June remain under investigation, with none confirmed.

"Buffalo and elephant deaths should not presently be attributed to anthrax without supporting laboratory evidence," he said — a caution that matters in an outbreak where the carcass count has travelled faster than the lab work. Hippos remain the species with the clearest laboratory evidence, and while current mortality does not threaten the population, Hamoonga called the deaths "significant enough to warrant intensified surveillance, rapid investigation of new carcasses and continued monitoring". The immediate concern, he said, is contamination around carcass sites and exposure at the wildlife–livestock–human interface.

On the human side, the figures are firmer and older: twelve people were infected after consuming meat from wildlife carcasses that tested positive, according to the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit. All twelve have been under treatment; no human deaths have been reported. Hunting in the affected area is suspended, wildlife police and checkpoints have been reinforced to stop carcasses being moved or eaten, and vaccination of domestic animals is under way in Lavushimanda district, where officials have declared meat from domestic animals safe.

Authorities continue to urge the public not to consume, sell or handle meat from animals that died suddenly or of unknown causes. Anthrax is endemic in Zambia; the 2023 outbreak — 684 suspected human cases and four deaths across 44 districts, per the WHO — is the standing reminder of what an uncontained spillover looks like.

Sources: Mongabay, "Anthrax suspected in 46 hippo deaths in Zambia" (24 Sep 2026); Anadolu Agency (12 Sep 2026); BBC News (14 Sep 2026); DMMU statement; Times of Zambia on Lavushimanda vaccination (24 Sep 2026); WHO disease outbreak news.