Published Date: 2018-11-19 17:46:51
Subject: PRO/AH> Foot & mouth disease - Nigeria: (YO) ex Cameroon and Chad, bovine, camel susp
Archive Number: 20181119.6154162
FOOT & MOUTH DISEASE - NIGERIA: (YOBE) ex CAMEROON AND CHAD, BOVINE, CAMEL SUSPECTED
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Date: Thu 15 Nov 2018, 6:25 AM
Source: Daily Trust (Nigeria) [summ., edited]
https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/how-yobe-livestock-farmers-lost-scores-of-animals-to-disease.html
Strange case of foot and mouth disease [FMD] ravaging animals in different parts of Yobe State is scaring livestock farmers in the state. Cases of the disease were said to have been found in communities in Jakusko, Fune, Nangere, Tarmuwa, Potiskum, Damaturu, Fika and Gulani local government areas of the state.
Breeders from the affected areas told the Daily Trust that the scourge manifested shortly after the rainy season and that it had so far claimed many animals. The chairman of Kullen Allah Cattle Breeders Association (KACBA) in Fika, Muhammad Alhaji Hassan, said he lost 3 cows to the disease. Alhaji Hassan said, "The 'boru disease' (FMD) was brought into the state by white migratory cattle from Chad and Cameroon through Adamawa. I have never seen this kind of 'boru disease' in camels. It looks like the FMD in cows," he said [see comment. - Mod.AS].
He noted that the contagious disease had killed animals in Maluri, Gudi, Manawaji and other Fulani settlements in a short period of time. "Months before now, our animals had suffered from lung disease, and now, it's 'boru' (FMD). It took the intervention of veterinary doctors sent by the state government to curtail the spread of the disease," he said. He stated that the disease could have been fatal if not for the mass animal vaccination (MAV) that the livestock received early this year [2018].
The national president of KACBA, Khalil Muhammad Bello, said he had received reports from affected areas and that he had forwarded them to the Yobe State Pilot Livestock Development Programme (PLDP) for immediate action. "I'm happy to inform that our people have started receiving drugs and treatment at area offices across the state. Wherever the livestock farmers have a problem, they will contact us to link them with the nearest area office for treatment," he explained.
He said most of the farmers delayed reporting the case to the government, relying on the fact that their animals had been vaccinated, and sometimes resort to local medication. "When the disease started, they used to grind seeds of acacia (bagaruwa) and apply it to the affected parts of the animals' feet and mouths, believing that their animals were vaccinated so it might not be the 'boru' disease. That is how they lost many animals to the disease," he explained.
On how many animals the farmers lost, he said it was not easy to have an instant statistics, but that they had received incidents of over 100 dead animals from the affected locations. He thanked the state government for timely response, which according to him, averted an epidemic that would destroy the livelihood of millions people in the state.
The project manager of the Yobe State PLDP, Malam Mustafa, said the laboratory test conducted on infected animals confirmed that the disease was FMD and contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP), also known as 'lung plague'. He said that when the cases were reported, he dispatched a rapid response team (RRT) to the affected areas to ascertain the veracity of the reports. "They collected blood samples of the infected animals which we took to laboratory in Vom in Plateau State and the result confirmed that it was FMD and CBPP ('lung plague')," he explained.
The programme manager said the diseases were brought into the state by sick migratory animals from Adamawa and Taraba states. He said proactive measures had been taken to re-vaccinate animals in the state and that control points would be provided at every entry point to Yobe to quarantine migratory animals and ensure that they were fit before allowing them access to the state. He said henceforth the state entry points in Fika, Gulani, Nangere and Jakusko would strictly prevent migratory animals' entry unless vaccinated, adding that most of the migrating herdsmen don't bother to vaccinate their animals.
The head of animal health, Yobe Livestock Development Programme (YLDP), Dr Idris Madaki, observed that the FMD was transported into Yobe, which is a transit route between Niger Republic and southern parts of the country. "That is why we are up-to-date on the free animals' vaccination to prevent our livestock from the sick animals coming in with trans-boundary diseases. As you are aware, we must abide by the ECOWAS treaty of free movement of these livestock, but that does not mean we should allow sick animals to come and pollute our environment," he warned.
He added that the migration of the sick livestock to Yobe was further aggravated by the middle belt crises in Taraba, Benue and Adamawa states, and that was why the vast grazing reserves of Yobe had now become a haven for herders. He, therefore, called on the federal government to look into the plight of animal rearers in Yobe with a view to supporting the state government in the provision of drugs, vaccines, fodder and any other thing that would improve the economic potential of livestock farming in the state.
[byline: Hamisu Kabir Matazu]
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[An administrative map of Nigeria, presenting the various states mentioned in the above item, is available at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigeria#Administrative_divisions. The suspected origin of the 2 diseases, FMD and CBPP, as introduced from Chad and Cameroon, remains to be established.
The mortality rate in adult cattle generally does not exceed 2%; FMD's serious economical losses are mainly attributed to its speedy and wide dissemination and its formidable infectivity, putting entire herds or farms out of production for protracted periods. In the described event, the relatively high mortality may have been caused by mixed infection with CBPP (contagious bovine pleuropneumonia), an infectious, notifiable disease of cattle caused by _Mycoplasma mycoides subsp. mycoides SC_ (see details at http://www.oie.int/fileadmin/Home/eng/Health_standards/tahm/2.04.08_CBPP.pdf).
The accuracy of the reported observation of FMD causing serious clinical signs in camels is questionable; dromedary camels do not seem to be susceptible to FMD. What caused the clinical signs in camels in Fika remains to be investigated and established. - Mod.AS
HealthMap/ProMED maps available at:
Nigeria: http://healthmap.org/promed/p/62
Cameroon: http://healthmap.org/promed/p/65
Chad: http://healthmap.org/promed/p/57]
