Anthrax kills at least 30 hippos in the Congo's Virunga National Park

4 November 2026

At least 30 hippopotamuses have died of anthrax in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) over the past month, Nature reports.
The carcasses were first found in September in Virunga National Park in the east of the country, and laboratory tests confirmed anthrax.
Anthrax is caused by the bacterium Bacillus anthracis, whose spores live naturally in soil and can infect livestock and wild animals.
No human cases have been reported; the main risk to people is handling infected carcasses or eating contaminated meat.
Park teams are disposing of carcasses safely and report no new deaths in the past two weeks.
The outbreak adds to the DRC's ongoing Ebola and cholera outbreaks.