Sierra Leone has banned the movement of livestock and meat imports from neighbouring Liberia after 36 cows died near the border.
The government said on Tuesday that it was stepping up surveillance for possible anthrax.
Liberian authorities said the cattle deaths began in July near the town of Kelima Bendu in Lofa County, about 10 kilometres from the Sierra Leonean border and 15 kilometres from the border with Guinea.
Tests are being carried out to find the cause.
Anthrax vaccination
Amid the fears of an outbreak of anthrax in West Africa, Nigerian government says it is planning a nationwide vaccination exercise for livestock after the country recorded its first case of Anthrax in animals.
Nigeria's agriculture ministry announced the first case of Anthrax, a deadly zoonotic disease, on Monday.
It was detected on Friday in a private farm in Suleja area in Niger state near the capital Abuja, the country's Chief Veterinary Officer Dr Columba Vakuru said in a statement.
Sierra Leone's government said that the movement of all cattle, goats and sheep had been banned along the border, and livestock markets had been temporarily closed in bordering areas, AFP news agency quotes a government statement as saying.
It said that surveillance measures had been stepped up at slaughterhouses in the Sierra Leonean districts of Kailahun, Kenema and Pujehun "for sick animals and humans with signs and symptoms of anthrax."
Anthrax transmission
In May 2022, an anthrax outbreak in Sierra Leone killed more than 200 animals.
Anthrax is transmitted by spores that can remain inactive for decades in the soil. It is transmissible to humans and sometimes fatal.
"Thus far, there has been no report of dead cattle being discovered in other parts of Lofa or other counties," the Liberian agriculture ministry said on July 7.
