MAWLR convenes meeting on control of TADs at Katima Mulilo

The Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform (MAWLR) on Sunday convened a three-day meeting of veterinary authorities of Namibia, Angola, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe to discuss the animal health situation in the respective countries.

The ministry’s Chief Veterinary Officer Albertina Shilongo in a media statement said the meeting will mainly discuss Transboundary Animal Diseases (TADs) such as Contagious Bovine Pleuropneumonia (CBPP), Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD), Rabies and Pest de Petits Ruminant (PPR).

The meeting taking place at Katima Mulilo in the Zambezi Region, will also develop a harmonised strategy and an implementation plan for the control, eradication and prevention of CBPP, strengthen collaboration in the fight against TADs along borders and promote trade in animals and animal products without posing a risk of introducing diseases, she said.

Namibia, she said has a World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) recognised bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) negligible risk status for
the whole country since 2016 and has launched a policy on eradication of TADs in the northern communal areas in 2010.

A strategy and implementation plan for achieving freedom from FMD and CBPP in the Northern Communal Area was further endorsed by the cabinet of Namibia in 2013, she added, noting that: ‘It is not possible for Namibia to achieve freedom from these diseases without involvement and collaboration with the neighbouring countries, especially when there are porous borders and people of the same tribe.’

It needs coordinated efforts, harmonized strategies and surveillance protocols, coordination of vaccination campaigns and application of WOAH international standards in the fight against TADs, Shilongo said.

Source: Namibia Press Agency