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Lovemore Zigara, Midlands Correspondent
Midlands Province has to date vaccinated over 60 000 cattle following the recurrence of the foot and mouth disease, which affected livestock mostly in Mberengwa and Gokwe South. Provincial Veterinary Officer Dr Daniel Hove said the greater part of Mberengwa had been affected by foot and mouth while the disease had been contained in Gokwe South.

“At the moment, of the 68 dip tanks in Mberengwa, about 28 have been affected by the foot and mouth disease In other words, the greater Mberengwa District has been affected by foot and mouth disease. In Gokwe, there are only two dip tanks where foot and mouth disease was identified, but it has since been contained.” Dr Hove said the veterinary department had vaccinated above 29 300 cattle in Mberengwa’s outlying areas and close to 33 300 in Gokwe to curb the spread of the disease,” he said.

“We have vaccinated the outlying areas bordering Mberengwa District where we vaccinated 29 325 cattle, starting with areas bordering Matabeleland South, Zvishavane and Masvingo province, so that the disease does not spread to the other areas,” he said.

“In Gokwe, we did the same and 33 325 cattle were also vaccinated.” Dr Hove said the vaccination exercise was meant to ensure that foot and mouth did not spread to other districts. Movement of livestock has also been restricted where foot and mouth disease is prevalent. The vaccination exercise comes as government is working on re-establishing the foot and mouth disease zone fences to reduce the spread of the disease.

The measures are being taken to reduce the spread of the disease, as relying on vaccinations is not effective. Foot and mouth disease zones are differentiated by colours, with the white zone being foot and mouth disease free. The green zone is between the red zone and the white zone, and animals in this zone were regularly inspected for foot and mouth disease.

Green zones act as the buffers between the red and white zones. All zones were separated from each other using fences and identified by hot iron brand marks on the left neck of cattle to show the zone. The red zone is usually found around national parks where there are buffaloes, which are blamed for mainly spreading the disease to livestock. All animals in this zone are vaccinated religiously for foot and mouth disease and are not allowed to leave the zone, unless when going for direct slaughter to designated abattoirs. The country has been experiencing challenges in vaccinating cattle for foot and mouth due to shortage of vaccines.