The U.S. government has donated 100,000 doses of anthrax vaccines to Ghana’s government in an effort to support the country’s anthrax vaccination program.
The U.S. Government donated the vaccines through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
The anthrax vaccines that were donated were not for human usage but rather for livestock that are susceptible to being infected with anthrax.
USAID Ghana Mission Director Kimberly Rosen, in a press release, stated, “Anthrax not only threatens human life. When it destroys livestock, it also threatens economic prosperity and food security.”
Anthrax is caused by the bacteria Bacillus anthracis, a spore-forming bacterium that can live in the ground for decades.
Natural outbreaks of anthrax among livestock don’t pose a severe risk to humans unless a person has direct contact with affected livestock; the weaponized version of anthrax, however, is highly deadly.
U.S. Donates Anthrax Vaccines to “Protect” Ghanaians and Livestock @USEmbassyGhanapic.twitter.com/XmfTgl1KgB
— The Triune Times (@TriuneTimes) April 23, 2024
The United States Government, through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), is donating 100,000 doses of the anthrax vaccine in support of the Government of Ghana and U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) anthrax vaccination campaign. The campaign is expected to cover about one million animals across the five regions of the north.
“Anthrax not only threatens human life. When it destroys livestock, it also threatens economic prosperity and food security,” said USAID/Ghana Mission Director Kimberly Rosen during the launch.
Before the launch event, Ms. Rosen and partners from FAO to tour the Vaccine Production Unit of the Central Veterinary Laboratory in Pong-Tamale. In support of domestic manufacturing capacity, USAID recently purchased 100,00 anthrax vaccines from the Central Veterinary Lab to donate to the anthrax vaccination campaign.
“During our tour of the Central Veterinary Laboratory this morning, it was clear that with some automation and more investment, the lab could produce larger quantities of vaccines to meet the national market and also be exported. More vaccines means healthier animals, safer humans and potential revenue and job creation for the Veterinary Service Department,” she added.
The U.S. Government is not just concerned with anthrax infecting livestock in Africa, but the Department of Defense has been stocking up on anthrax vaccines in preparation for a possible anthrax attack.
As The Gateway Pundit previously reported, Biopharmaceutical company Emergent BioSolutions (EBS) signed a massive $235.8 million contract with the Department of Defense in January to supply the U.S. military with its BioThrax anthrax vaccine.
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