New vaccination round against FMD in Kavango

THE second round of the vaccination campaign against foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) kicked off last week in the Kavango Region’s Mukwe constituency.

The area had been under quarantine until recently following a severe outbreak of the disease last year.This time officials of the Veterinary Department in the Agriculture Ministry will use a trivalent vaccine acquired from the Botswana Vaccine Institute.The first round was carried out in June this year.Over 30 000 head of cattle from 112 villages of the Ndiyona and Mukwe constituencies, east of Rundu, are targeted for this round of re-vaccination, which will last one month, and cattle farmers are urged to bring their cattle for vaccination.Rundu State Veterinarian Dr Thompson Shuro told Nampa that 15 008 cattle in the Mukwe Constituency were vaccinated against FMD during the first round, while in the Ndiyona constituency, 14 641 cattle were vaccinated.Cattle have to be vaccinated at least twice a year because the effectiveness of the vaccine only lasts for six months.In February this year, 50 000 doses of trivalent vaccine were received from Botswana’s Vaccine Institute, the only institute that produces this vaccine in southern Africa. ‘The campaign is aimed at convincing livestock trading partners that the region is doing its best to curb FMD,’ said Shuro.An electric fence to control the outbreak of FMD, which was erected at Shamangorwa village, some 140 kilometres east of Rundu in the Mukwe Constituency, remains in place.All other restrictions on the transportation of cloven-hoofed animals were lifted recently.In July 2008, an FMD outbreak was detected in the eastern part of the region at Kamutjonga village about 225 kilometres east of Rundu. The outbreak is suspected to have been transmitted by buffaloes, which are known carriers of the virus that causes FMD, in the nearby Mahango Game Park.According to available records, the last time the Kavango Region recorded a FMD outbreak was in 1992. – Nampa