FMD movement restrictions lifted
The outbreak – which was first detected last September – has been successfully controlled, with no new positive cases recorded since January.
ELLANIE SMIT
WINDHOEK
All Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) movement restrictions on cloven- hoofed animals and their products have been lifted in the FMD Protection Zone.
However, despite the lifting of restrictions, vaccination of cattle against the disease will continue to prevent possible future outbreaks, while FMD surveillance will also continue.
This was announced yesterday by the agriculture ministry, which said the last positive case was observed in the FMD Protective Zone on 20 January.
The Protection Zone comprises of the Kavango East Region, excluding the Mukwe constituency; Kavango West; Ohangwena; Oshikoto; Kunene (north of the red line); Oshana, and Omusati.
It also includes the Tsumkwe constituency in Otjozondjupa.
Chief veterinary officer in the ministry, Dr Albertina Shilongo, explained that according to Namibia’s FMD constituency plan, a 90-day period should lapse without observing any new positive cases in the Protection Zone.
“The outbreak is considered to have been successfully controlled, hence the lifting of all restrictive measures today, 20 April,” she said.
Team work
FMD was first detected on 28 September 2020 in Kavango East and subsequently spread to Kavango West, Ohangwena, Oshikoto and Oshana, affecting nine constituencies.
“For the purposes of controlling the FMD outbreak, control measures were instituted immediately by the ministry that included - amongst others - vaccination of cattle, intensive disease surveillance and movement restriction of all live cloven-hoofed animals, their products and other potentially infectious materials,” Shilongo said.
According to her, farmers and the public played an important role in the control and containment of the disease by presenting their cattle for vaccination and adhering to control measures that were put in place.
Farmers are still urged to bring cattle for vaccination at crush pens and to report any suspicious FMD cases to the nearest state veterinary offices, she added.
WINDHOEK
All Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) movement restrictions on cloven- hoofed animals and their products have been lifted in the FMD Protection Zone.
However, despite the lifting of restrictions, vaccination of cattle against the disease will continue to prevent possible future outbreaks, while FMD surveillance will also continue.
This was announced yesterday by the agriculture ministry, which said the last positive case was observed in the FMD Protective Zone on 20 January.
The Protection Zone comprises of the Kavango East Region, excluding the Mukwe constituency; Kavango West; Ohangwena; Oshikoto; Kunene (north of the red line); Oshana, and Omusati.
It also includes the Tsumkwe constituency in Otjozondjupa.
Chief veterinary officer in the ministry, Dr Albertina Shilongo, explained that according to Namibia’s FMD constituency plan, a 90-day period should lapse without observing any new positive cases in the Protection Zone.
“The outbreak is considered to have been successfully controlled, hence the lifting of all restrictive measures today, 20 April,” she said.
Team work
FMD was first detected on 28 September 2020 in Kavango East and subsequently spread to Kavango West, Ohangwena, Oshikoto and Oshana, affecting nine constituencies.
“For the purposes of controlling the FMD outbreak, control measures were instituted immediately by the ministry that included - amongst others - vaccination of cattle, intensive disease surveillance and movement restriction of all live cloven-hoofed animals, their products and other potentially infectious materials,” Shilongo said.
According to her, farmers and the public played an important role in the control and containment of the disease by presenting their cattle for vaccination and adhering to control measures that were put in place.
Farmers are still urged to bring cattle for vaccination at crush pens and to report any suspicious FMD cases to the nearest state veterinary offices, she added.
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