28 hippos die of anthrax in Virunga — Al Jazeera
In Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the park administration confirmed anthrax as the cause of death of 28 hippos following laboratory tests. The animals’ carcasses were found in the Semuliki River, west of the park, over approximately four weeks. Al Jazeera reports.
Risks for local residents
Virunga management noted that anthrax can be transmitted to humans through contact with a dead or sick animal or by consuming its meat. Residents of the affected area and adjacent territories are urged not to touch, skin or eat animals found dead, and to report carcasses or suspicious cases to the relevant authorities.
Park staff are tracking new animal deaths, recording them and coordinating the safe handling and disposal of carcasses. Ecology and veterinary medicine expert Joël Mbusa Mapoli called the deaths of the hippos a significant loss for Virunga and urged that the outbreak be contained urgently.
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Drought and armed conflict
Park representatives said that anthrax outbreaks among hippos and other wild animals had previously been recorded during periods of drought. The bacterium Bacillus anthracis can persist in the soil in spore form for decades. When vegetation is scarce, herbivores graze closer to the ground and gather near limited grazing areas and water sources, increasing the risk of contact with contaminated soil.
According to the park’s population update for February 2026, Virunga had more than 2,700 hippos in 171 groups. During a previous anthrax outbreak in 2025, 65 hippos died there; park staff used excavators to retrieve the carcasses from the water.
The park also said it had lost control over a significant part of its territory during the past four years because of the conflict between the Congolese army and the M23 group. Environmental activist Olivier Ndoole Bahemuke links the prolonged armed conflict in the country to increased poaching and deforestation.
