FAO warns of deadly animal virus
Known as Peste des Petits Ruminants (Small Ruminants' Plague), or PPR, it is considered as the most destructive viral disease affecting small ruminant flocks, on par with rinderpest in cattle in the past. PPR may cause death rates of up to 100 percent in sheep and goats and although it does not infect humans, it can cause enormous socio-economic losses.
FAO issued the warning following a recent emergency mission to Tanzania by the agency’s Crisis Management Centre - Animal Health (CMC-AH).
The mission recommended that Tanzania initiate an emergency vaccination programme around the disease outbreak site in the northern half of the country and consider additional vaccination in the area bordering Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia. It is important also that the latter countries immediately step up vigilance and engage in proactive surveillance.
If the disease is allowed to spread from Tanzania into the whole of the 15-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC) it could potentially devastate the livelihoods and food security of millions of small herders and agro-pastoralists.
Juan Lubroth, FAO’s Chief Veterinary Officer, noted that, “Sheep and goats are critical to food and income security for pastoral communities. The presence of the disease directly affects a family’s wealth, hence the veterinary services of countries in the region must review their preparedness plans, strengthen border control and improve surveillance. We are at the disposal of SADC in times of need. This may well be one of those times.”
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