Published Date: 2019-08-13 20:14:58
Subject: PRO/AH/EDR> Foot & mouth disease - Zambia (04): (SO) cattle, st pending
Archive Number: 20190813.6620808
FOOT & MOUTH DISEASE - ZAMBIA (04): (SOUTHERN) CATTLE, SEROTYPE PENDING
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Date: Mon 12 Aug 2019
Source: Lusaka Times [edited]
https://www.lusakatimes.com/2019/08/12/foot-and-mouth-disease-breaks-out-in-shamabele-area-in-chikankata-district/
Foot and mouth disease [FMD] has broken out in Shamabele area in Chikankata district of Southern province. And Ministry of Livestock officials in Southern province have with immediate effect closed the famous Turn Pike Bata Co-operative Society Abattoir following the outbreak of disease.
This has been confirmed by Bata Co-operative Society Chairperson for Hides and Beef Traders Association, Daniel Bweupe in an interview with the Zambia News and Information Services (ZANIS) in Chikankata district in Southern province over the weekend.
Mr Bweupe said cattle farmers are currently battling to contain FMDE using salt to treat their animals.
He revealed that the disease is suspected to have manifested from the abattoir and spread to Shamabele and the surrounding areas.
Mr Bweupe said following the immediate closure of the abattoir facility, a lot of people who were employed by the society have now become jobless. And Mr Bweupe has thanked the Ministry of Livestock for responding promptly to the outbreak of the killer disease.
Mr Bweupe further implored the Ministry of Livestock to start the vaccination of the animals in order to contain the disease with immediate effect.
ZANIS reports that Mr Bweupe said there is a need for immediate vaccination of animals before the disease can spread to other parts of the district, as opposed to using salt by farmers to treat their animals against FMD.
Meanwhile, Mr Bweupe has advised cattle farmers in the district to comply with the Ministry of Livestock ban so that the disease can be contained.
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[For a map presenting the Chikankata district, Southern province of Zambia, please go to https://www.google.co.il/maps/search/Shamabele+area+in+Chikankata+district++Southern+province+Zambia/@-14.105638,25.6823315,6z?hl=en. The outbreak is situated about 50 km north of Zambia's border with Zimbabwe (the 2 countries are divided there by Lake Kariba). The outbreak, yet to be serotyped and reported to the OIE, is more than 850 km southwest from the 2 last outbreaks of late 2018/early 2019, reported to the OIE from Zambia's Northern Province, adjacent to the border with Tanzania, serotyped A (20190131.6285793). These outbreaks were attributed to illegally introduced animals.
Zambia belongs to FMDV pool 6 (Southern Africa). According to the most recent available (April 2019) monthly report "Global FMD situation (FAO/EUFMD)," FMDV serotypes O and SAT 2 were respectively detected in 6 and 4 samples of the 12 collected from cattle in Zambia between January and April 2019. Phylogenetic analysis of the FMDV O indicated a close relationship with serotype O (EA-2) isolated from Tanzania in 2012. "Fortunately, vaccine matching results for the Zambian outbreak are good, giving positive prospects for control," the report stated. The above and additional information is available in the Pool 6 section of the last monthly global report, at https://static.wixstatic.com/ugd/2a4419_2bdacacb7685407da7b4396a58992d8e.pdf. - Mod.AS
HealthMap/ProMED map available at:
Zambia: http://healthmap.org/promed/p/170]
