Containing outbreaks with drone delivery

On June 1, 2023, the East Regional Health Directorate in Ghana reported two suspected cases of anthrax among cattle in the Binduri District. The government needed to respond quickly to prevent an emergency—the disease can kill livestock and potentially spread to humans.

Luckily, Zipline had established a partnership with Cowtribe, a startup that supports smallholder farmers in Africa by, among other things, improving access to animal health supplies. Shortly after confirming the anthrax cases, the Ghana Veterinary Services Directorate called on Zipline and Cowtribe to deliver anthrax vaccines to the area.

Within six days, Zipline and Cowtribe delivered 100,000 doses of anthrax vaccines to agrovets in 15 districts in Ghana. Those agrovets used the doses to vaccinate cattle, protecting livestock—a crucial economic resource for local farmers—and preventing the spread of zoonotic diseases. The coordinated approach between Zipline, veterinary professionals, and public officials contained the outbreak within the month. 

Zipline can both ramp up vaccine deliveries in response to outbreaks and integrate with national campaigns to prevent the spread of disease. In 2023, Zipline delivered 500,000 doses of vaccines against Rift Valley Fever—another zoonotic disease—to support semi-annual vaccination campaigns by the Rwandan Agricultural Board.  

In 2023, Zipline delivered a total of more than twelve million doses of animal health vaccines as either part of regular vaccination campaigns or emergency outbreak response.