Uganda Meat Producers Cooperative Union Ltd (UMPCU) has procured 10,000 doses of purified quadrivalent foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) vaccine with funding from the EU FALBIIS project. The procurement was made through the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries.
The EU funded Farmer-Led Beef Livestock Investment and Sustainability project (FALBIIS), seeks to prevent and control animal diseases to ensure an improvement in livestock production and productivity. The other key result areas of FALBIIS are to improve pasture (rangeland) management and to promote supplementary feeding for increased livestock rates.
UMPCU field veterinary teams have commenced the FMD vaccination this week, with the hope of curbing the spread of the disease. FMD is a severe highly contagious viral disease which mainly affects cloven foot animals like sheep, goats, cattle and pigs.
According to one of UMPCU’s Veterinarians, Dr. Alex Turyatunga, animals that are not yet infected mainly pick up either by close contact with the infected animal or anything that has been touched by the infected animal. It is therefore advisable to carry out vaccination in time.
Images of the FMD vaccination in Kyarujungu, Mbarara district
On Tuesday 16th February 2021, Government raised a red flag over FMD which has spread to the districts of Kiruhura, Isingiro, Kazo and Sembabule. 24 other districts which are in close proximity of those districts have been put on the alert to contain the disease.
Related story: https://www.independent.co.ug/govt-quarantines-five-districts-over-foot-and-mouth-disease/