Rwanda, Uganda vets meet over animal diseases

Veterinary officers from Rwanda and Uganda will today convene at the Kagitumba border in the Eastern Province to assess the current situation after the outbreak of foot and mouth disease in neighbouring Uganda.“We are meeting to assess the situation and implement the measures we put in place to avoid the spread of the disease into the country as well as charting the way forward,” Dr Theogene Rutagenda, the Director General of Animal Resources in the Ministry of Agriculture and the vice president of the world Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), Regional Commission for Africa said.Foot-and-mouth disease is an infectious and sometimes fatal viral disease that affects cloven-hoofed animals, including domestic and wild bovid.Affected areas in Uganda include Ngoma and Nyabugando in Ntungamo and Isingiro districts, western Uganda, respectively.Following the outbreak of the disease last week, Rwanda Agricultural Board (RAB) dispatched veterinary officers at all borders to prevent the movement of animals from Uganda as well as set up a foot-bath containing a disinfectant at all entry points as a control measure.Rwanda had last witnessed the infectious animal disease in 2008, since then, the government put strict controls at its borders to avoid illegal import of animals from neighbouring countries and implemented quarantine measures.The virus results in a high fever for two to three days among infected cattle, followed by blisters inside the mouth and on the feet that may rupture and cause lameness and death.The disease is spread by infected animals through aerosols, contact with contaminated farming equipment, vehicles, clothing or feed and by domestic and wild predators.Though it does not kill an infected animal immediately, it debilitates milk and meat production, causing severe economic losses to farmers.

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Rwanda, Uganda vets meet over animal diseases