Veterinary officials from various regional countries are meeting in Kigali to develop a roadmap for the control of foot -and-mouth disease (FMD).

The three-day workshop, that aims at analysing efforts made in the fight against foot-and-mouth disease, is focusing on the eastern Africa region.

The workshop has attracted participants from Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Sudan, South Sudan, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and DR Congo.

Speaking at the opening of the meeting yesterday, Dr Theogene Rutagwenda, the director general of livestock at the Ministry of Agriculture, said foot-and-mouth disease is more rampant near the borders of Tanzania and Uganda.

The disease is caused by a virus and attacks the mouth and hooves of the animals.

In Rwanda, as of now, we have put check points at the borders and use vaccination as one of our preventive measures to curb the disease, he said.

Dr Giancario Ferrari, project coordinator at the Food and Agriculture Organisation, said the control of foot-and-mouth disease is based on a tool that was developed by the UN food agency and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) in 2012.

The tool, the progressive control Path (PCP), was based on risk analysis approach and comprises five strategies, he said.

"The tool is part of the five strategies being used to attain the global FMD eradication strategy that applies the global framework for the control of trans-boundary animal diseases (GF-TADS),” he added.

The meeting is being held for the second time in the region. The first meeting was held in Nairobi in March 2012.

Isidore Gafarasi, director of veterinary services, Rwanda Agricultural Board, said every country will show its progress in the fight against the disease, during the workshop, so that a common path is taken to completely eliminate it.

He said this will help boost the countries’ livestock exports because a country affected with the disease is not allowed to participate in the world trade market.

"For Rwanda’s case, the disease is under control. The last case was registered in 2011,” he added.

According to officials, the risk zone is in the Eastern Province in three districts, namely Nyagatare, Gatsibo and Kayonza.

"We vaccinate regularly and constantly do control surveillance to ensure the prevention of the disease.

In the Western Province, we have risk areas in Rubavu, especially the sectors bordering DR Congo, but we are always on the alert. We hope that by 2017 Rwanda will be free from FMD,” said Dr Christine Kanyandekwe, deputy director for Animal Resources, Rwanda Agricultural Board.

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