23 May 2020

Farmers in Ngamiland have been urged to ensure their cattle are vaccinated during the Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) vaccination exercise scheduled to commence Tuesday, May 26.

The exercise, which had been initially planned for April, had to be suspended due to the outbreak of coronavirus following which health protocols such as social distancing were put in place.

FMD unit coordinator, Dr Odireleng Thololwane said in an interview that 40 teams had been formed to facilitate the exercise adding that they would start at FMD high risk areas.

Their target, he said was to ensure 100 per cent vaccination across the district and implored farmers to commit to ending FMD by bringing all livestock for vaccination. 

The vaccination would be done in four phases with the first one covering areas of Makalamabedi, Shorobe, Maun, Chanoga among others.

Second phase will cover Toteng, Sehithwa, third phase includes Tsau areas and part of Okavango sub district while the last phase would cater for Okavango Panhandle and Hainaveld farms.

Dr Thololwane also noted that they intended to apply the ‘military style’ where they ambush areas considering the fact that the Thamalakane River had received annual floods and the inflow had attracted animals such as buffalos and elephants among others.

Such animals, he said were territorial and they roam around in search of water and good vegetation.

“We anticipate high risk of FMD due to the water inflow as there will be a lot of movement of both livestock and wildlife,” he added.

Dr Thololwane further acknowledged that it was difficult to control cattle especially when water sources had been filled up but appealed to farmers to round up their livestock and prepare them for vaccination.

Failure to comply, he said, would reverse the gains made so far in containing the disease. Farmers were also urged to take precautions by reporting any suspicious signs of FMD. ENDS