SADC steps in to curb FMD

The animal disease control department of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) has endorsed a US $2 million loan to Zimbabwe in an effort to curb the spread of foot-and-mouth (FMD) and other diseases. Zimbabwe has experienced sporadic outbreaks of FMD in the past few years, but has failed to bring it under control due to a lack of cash to buy vaccines. "The department was assured of the facility by SADC officials and it is hoped that the funds will assist in the buying of relevant doses to contain the foot-and-mouth disease and other related animal diseases," the director of Zimbabwe's veterinary services, Stuart Hargreaves, told the state media. The loan is part of a US $10 million SADC scheme to help member states combat livestock diseases. Other countries that would benefit from the project were Botswana and Malawi, Hargreaves said, as both countries had experienced similar outbreaks in recent years. Authorities in Zimbabwe welcomed the move, noting that some of the money would be used to construct dip tanks and put in place infrastructure for newly resettled farmers who had benefited from the land reform programme, which began four years ago. "There is a need to assist new players who have since adopted a beef rebuilding programme," added Hargreaves. Zimbabwe, once a major supplier of beef to the European Union (EU) was forced to halt exports a few years ago when FMD began to take its toll. It has failed to resume the trade, as the disease remains endemic in parts of the country. But according to Malvern Muleya, a veterinary specialist in southern Zimbabwe, the area hardest hit by FMD and an outbreak of anthrax, the SADC loan was too little to make an impact. "It's a welcome move, yes, but I don't think it [the money] will help a great deal because there is so much that needs to be done to make sure FMD and other diseases, like anthrax and tick-borne [ones], are brought under total subjugation. What the government probably needs to do is to mobilise for more resources and start providing chemicals to peasants farmers to dip their cattle," Muleya told IRIN. Muleya said the government stopped providing small-scale farmers with vaccines and dipping chemicals two years ago. Last year alone experts reported that a combination of FMD and recurring drought had killed more than 50,000 animals in Matabeleland South province, on the border with Botswana. The region, which is Zimbabwe's principal beef producer, has suffered sporadic cases of FMD over the years.