Maputo, July 18, 2025 (Lusa) - The province of Gaza, in southern Mozambique, needs 50,000 doses of foot-and-mouth disease vaccine to save nearly 4,000 head of cattle, local authorities have announced.
According to Sérgio Maneno, head of the livestock department at the provincial directorate of agriculture and fisheries in Gaza, greater self-sufficiency in vaccine production “will accelerate the response to the spread of the disease.”
“The biggest problem is its rapid spread, and because it has a huge economic impact, as it limits the movement of animals from agricultural areas to the affected areas,” said Sérgio Maneno.
Approximately 1,900 head of cattle and 1,800 goats in the Chibotane locality, Massingir, in Gaza Province, require foot-and-mouth disease prevention measures.
The official urges the population to comply with the health protocol and keep livestock and livestock products within the districts of Massingir and Mabalane, both in Gaza.
“The most important thing now is to comply with what the ministry has established: halt movement and ask economic agents to help us in this process, especially for the Limpopo National Park, which can assist technicians in controlling this disease,” explained the leader.
Veterinarians diagnosed foot-and-mouth disease in Massingir in June, marking the second local outbreak recorded in less than a year. The authorities state that the cohabitation of cattle and other bovine animals, such as buffalo, is the leading cause of this disease.
“The disease causes sores in the mouth, so the animal cannot eat for a few days. It soon returns to normal, and the situation passes. We expect the ministry to supply the vaccine, and we are setting up a ring around the area where the outbreak occurred,” explained the official.
A government report indicates that foot-and-mouth disease is the disease with the “greatest impact on the economy,” with Mozambique recording 15 outbreaks in 2023, compared to a peak of 25 in 2022, of which 13 were in the province of Tete and two in Manica, provinces in the centre of the country.
“Its occurrence could result in restrictions on the country’s trade with other international markets, both for animal and vegetable products from the affected areas,” the report on foot-and-mouth disease outbreaks points out.
RYR/ADB // ADB.
Lusa
