Zimbabwe An High Alert As Foot-and-Mouth Disease Threatens SADC Region

Zimbabwe remains on high alert over Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) as authorities warn of a growing regional threat, with outbreaks spreading across the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

Chief Director of Veterinary Services in the Ministry of Agriculture, Pious Makaya, said the country’s FMD cases are mostly confined to ecological “hotspots” near wildlife conservancies and national parks in Regions Four and Five, where cattle and wild animals interact.

Makaya said South Africa has reported infections across all its provinces to the World Organisation for Animal Health, while Mozambique and Zambia recently identified a more dangerous strain, Type O.

He added that four districts in Zimbabwe, with a combined cattle population of 316,000, are under FMD quarantine and barred from trading live animals or related products. Suspected cases continue to crop up in different areas, including a recent alert in Goromonzi District.

Most confirmed cases remain in districts like Mangwe, which borders Botswana. Makaya warned that efforts to contain the disease fully have been hampered by vaccine shortages. Said Makaya:

“Normally, we follow initial vaccination with a booster after a month, but we could not do that due to limited vaccine supplies.”

He said once vaccines arrive, mass vaccination campaigns will resume, focusing on areas around conservancies and national parks.

In the meantime, the government has rolled out containment measures, including movement restrictions, roadblocks, and closer monitoring of livestock transport.

Makaya added that efforts are underway to reduce contact between livestock and wildlife, with fencing projects already in progress at Gonarezhou National Park and plans to extend similar measures to Hwange National Park.

More: CITE

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