Safeguarding livelihoods in the midst of an FMD outbreak
Conrad Lifatila, a small-scale livestock farmer in Zambezi region, never thought that his cattle would be alive by now. Critically infected by the ghastly Food and Mouth Disease (FMD) that had engulfed his area, his cattle were getting thinner by the day as grazing became an almost impossible task due to swelling in their mouths.
“I really thought they would all die, they were in such a dire state and that gave me sleepless nights,” said Conrad. Desperate for ways to try to rescue his cattle, Conrad resorted to using a homemade salt solution that he used to wash the lesions in his infected cattle.
That was during the peak of the FMD outbreak in Zambezi region, since then however the situation has normalised, largely due to the impeccable response from the local State Veterinary Office (SVO) and its hardworking staff.
“Once we detected the outbreak, all hands were immediately on deck to contain the spread,” said Michael Tiyeho, a State Veterinarian based in the region.
Michael attributes the early detection of the disease as one of the main reasons why the outbreak was quickly contained.
“Out testing capacity has greatly improved and we were quick to identify the new FMD strain and fight it accordingly with the right vaccine,” he said.
The new FMD strain in question is the serotype O strain that caused high infection rates amongst livestock in the region. The strain is believed to have originated from neighbouring Zambia mainly due to illegal cross border grazing.
Michael and his colleagues at the local SVO are some of the state veterinarians who received training through the Support Towards the Operationalization of Southern African Development Community Regional Agricultural Policy (STOSAR) project which is funded by the European Union (EU) and is being implemented by FAO and the SADC Secretariat.
Michael attributes the better response to the FMD outbreak in Zambezi to improved capacity development of veterinarians operating in the Northern Communal Areas, which are high-risk areas for transboundary animal diseases such as FMD.
“Thanks to FAO, we have received a considerable amount of training on surveillance and monitoring of transboundary animal diseases such as FMD, which has greatly improved how we handle outbreaks,” he noted.
“The STOSAR project has really made a difference in how we manage transboundary animal diseases in our region, we are therefore very grateful for such support,” Michael concluded.
Related links:
Support towards operationalization of the SADC Regional Agricultural Policy (STOSAR)