... Linking agrobiz, sustainable environs, people & technology
The Osun State government has summoned cooks and officials of the O-Meal at St James Primary School B, Owoope Osogbo following a food poisoning scare, reports NaijaAgroNet.The incident which led to hospitalisation of some students saw the government raising tot he challenge by footing the hospital bills, even as the students have since been discharged.
Search NaijaAgroNet
Showing posts with label affected. Show all posts
Showing posts with label affected. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 12, 2023
Thursday, September 28, 2017
Smallholders worst affected by lumpy skin disease
The ongoing epidemic of lumpy skin disease is affecting
largely the smallholder farmers’ leading to the warning by the Food and
Agriculture Organisation (FAO), reports NaijaAgroNet.
In a position paper made available to NaijaAgroNet, FAO warned that even
countries that have not been affected by lumpy skin disease so far but are
considered at risk need to carry out risk-based vaccination to avert the spread
of the disease, which can have devastating consequences for farmers, particularly
smallholders.
Pointing out that for broader cattle vaccination to keep
lumpy skin disease at bay, especially in Eastern Europe and the Balkans, and in
areas where the risk is the highest.
Lumpy skin disease is a cattle pox virus transmitted by
biting insects that can be deadly for cattle but does not affect humans. The
disease used to be confined to Africa only. In 2013, it emerged in Turkey and
then quickly spread through nine countries in Eastern Europe and the
Balkans.
At the height of the disease’s spread in Europe, countries
hit by lumpy skin disease registered up to 200 outbreaks, which have led to
significant economic losses – due to drops in milk production and reduced
quality of skins – and the death of up to around 15 percent of the affected
herds.
“Although the outbreak in Europe was contained in April
following mass vaccinations, we have seen the disease resurface in recent
months in Albania, Greece and Macedonia. It’s just another warning sign that
the disease has not been fully contained yet and can keep spreading if we don’t
step up efforts to control it,” said Ren Wang, FAO Assistant Director-General,
Agriculture and Consumer Protection Department.
FAO urges governments across the regions at risk of lumpy
skin disease to carry out vaccination campaigns, especially ahead of bug
season, which usually starts in March, when infection rates are highest to
prevent, control and eliminate the disease.
Preventive vaccination in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina,
and northern Serbia, for example, would create a buffer zone and stop the
disease from potentially spreading to neighbouring countries such as Hungary
and Romania, which have been spared to date from the disease.
FAO warned that stamping out – the proactive culling of all
animals on an infected farm – should be used as a last resort because stamping
out can have a drastic impact on farmers’ livelihoods, particularly those of
smallholders. If stamping out is considered necessary, FAO recommends for this
to be used only in the case of clinically affected cattle, when the infection
is confirmed by an authorized laboratory, and animals should be humanely culled
and appropriately disposed of as soon as possible.
FAO has already played an important role in reshaping
countries’ policies so that vaccination is used as a key measure to prevent
lumpy skin disease, and to minimize stamping out.
“Despite the progress made in combatting lumpy skin disease,
there are still some grey areas we need to focus on. For one, we need to
understand better if lumpy skin disease can also be transmitted from one animal to another via
infected milk, for example, and if infected animals that do not show clinical
signs could still spread the virus,” said Ren Wang, Assistant Director-General,
FAO Agriculture and Consumer Protection Department.
“There is also a need for better regional coordination and
heightened surveillance to deal more effectively with the spread of the
disease,” Ren Wang said.
Isaac Oyimah/GEE
... Linking agrobiz, sustainable environs, people & technologyPix: Ren Wang
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)