The Directorate of Veterinary Services (DVS) says it has successfully controlled and contained the Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) outbreak in the Zambezi region, and lifted all animal movement restrictions.
This was after the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform had imposed restrictions in May last year following the detection of Foot and Mouth disease in the Zambezi region, where more than 150 cattle are reported to have died due to FMD related causes.
Chief Veterinary Officer, Dr Albertina Shilongo, said according to the intensive disease surveillance conducted by the DVS, the last confirmed FMD case was reported on the 4th of November 2021 in the Zambezi region.
“In line with Namibia’s FMD Contingency Plan, outbreak restrictions in the FMD Protection and Infected zones can be lifted three months after the last confirmed case. The 4th of February 2022 marked three months after the last confirmed FMD case in the region. All restrictions that were imposed as a result of the FMD outbreak in Zambezi region are therefore lifted with immediate effect,” she said.
The Ministry’s investigations established the source of the outbreak as FMD serotype O and in order to address the situation, a total of 340 000 doses of FMD serotype O vaccine were procured at a cost of N$6 million.
The latest suspension of all restrictions comes after the government department partially lifted the restrictions in December.
