The ministry of agriculture has announced the lifting of restrictions after successfully containing the food and mouth disease (FMD) outbreak in the Zambezi region.

Since August last year, the movement of all cloven-hoofed animals and their products within, into and out of the Zambezi region has been banned after an outbreak of FMD was confirmed at Sigwe village.
Sigwe is located in the Kabbe North constituency and lies in the eastern floodplains of the Zambezi region, about 90km east of Katima Mulilo.  The directorate of veterinary services under the ministry yesterday informed the public on the lifting of the restrictions, following the successful containment of the FMD outbreak in cattle that occurred in the Kabbe North constituency of the Zambezi region in August. 
Dr Albertina Shilongo, who is the head of the directorate of veterinary services under the agriculture ministry, said the restrictions are lifted with immediate effect.

The last confirmed case of FMD in the Kabbe North constituency was recorded on 13 December 2019. 
According to Namibia’s national FMD contingency plan, the restrictions are lifted after three months from the last confirmed case in the FMD infected zone.

“The response to this outbreak mainly involved mass vaccination of cattle, zoning, movement control, disease surveillance and awareness creation amongst others. Over 96% of the cattle in the region were successfully vaccinated against FMD,” she noted. 
According to Shilongo, all indications are that the FMD outbreak has been successfully controlled, hence the decision to lift all restrictions that were put in place for the purposes of controlling this outbreak.

The ministry thanked farmers and the public as well as all stakeholders for their cooperation and assistance in dealing with the outbreak.
The directorate of veterinary services in the Zambezi region was notified by farmers on 8 August last year that some of their animals were limping, salivating and not grazing. 

At the time, the directorate found that two kraals at Sigwe village were infected with FMD.
About 50 of the 106 cattle showed signs of FMD infection. The population of cattle considered to have been at risk of FMD infection is approximately 4 000. The disease is suspected to have been transmitted to cattle from African buffaloes that are common carriers of the virus that causes FMD.
– anakale@nepc.com.na