Long-term strategy needed for FMD

ELLANIE SMIT WINDHOEK The livestock industry should develop a proactive long-term strategy for foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), of which funding must form a crucial part, the Meat Board has suggested. Namibia, Botswana and Eswatini are the only countries in Africa with World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) recognised FMD disease-free zones. Chief marketing officer at the Meat Board, Desmond Cloete, explains that the northern communal area (NCA) is separated from the OIE-recognised FMD-free zone by the veterinary cordon fence, commonly referred to as the red line. “Lessons learnt from the current outbreak included the realisation that the Directorate of Veterinary Services (DVS), with the assistance of the livestock industry, should develop a proactive long-term FMD strategy that includes operation modalities as well as the sourcing of funds,” says Cloete. He says this could be included in the current industry discussion regarding assistance to DVS critical services.He added that preventative measures should be included in a long-term strategy due to the absence of a physical boundary between Namibia and Angola.According to him, the red line stretches over 1 200 km from Wêreldend in the Kunene Region to the Botswana border along 20-degrees longitude. Cloete says that the NCA is made up of the protection zone that includes the Kunene (north), Omusati, Oshana, Oshikoto, Ohangwena, Kavango West and Kavango East regions (excluding the Ndiyona and Mukwe constituencies).The infectious zone consists of the Ndiyona and Mukwe constituencies in Kavango East and Zambezi.“Before 2015, the NCA protection zone was, for almost 20 years, free of FMD outbreaks,” says Cloete. “However, the risk of having an open border with Angola was always there.” He says the first major outbreak occurred in 2015, with devastating results for formal livestock marketing in the area.In 2020, another series of outbreaks occurred in the NCA, which were traced back to Angola.The DVS requested the Meat Board and the livestock industry to assist with the implementation of FMD control strategies due to a severe shortage of funds. Did you know?The red line was erected in 1896 as an exclusion fence separating northern and central Namibia from the southern parts of the country.“The red line remains vital to the livestock industry as a means to control animal and meat movement from the north to the south as well as to survey animal disease outbreaks such as FMD,” says Cloete. He says this is critical in maintaining Namibia's international animal health status.“Additionally, it ensures the marketing of animals from south of the red line with a different disease status as those from the NCA.”

Long-term strategy needed for FMD

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Namibian Sun 2025-06-19

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Long-term strategy needed for FMD

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Namibian Sun 2025-06-19

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