On July 19, the alert to the foot-and-mouth disease epidemic was launched after the confirmation of several cases on the Mauritius island of Rodrigues. This animal epidemic which quickly affected the whole of Rodrigues Island then spread to Mauritius.
Welcome help from the Mauritian authorities
Safe for humans, foot-and-mouth disease is a generally non-fatal, or even mild, infectious animal disease that affects especially cattle, pigs, goats, sheep and other animals. Very contagious, since it only takes a very small amount to infect another individual, it has a strong economic impact which justifies national and international policies.
To curb this scourge which greatly threatens Mauritian agriculture, the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC) imported from Botswana 20,000 doses of vaccines worth € 34,000 as well as 19,000 marking rings to identify vaccinated animals.
In addition, the IOC also supported the mobilization of 10 Malagasy veterinarians to support the Mauritian vaccination teams.
Effective coordination
This substantial support from the IOC to the Mauritian government is made possible thanks to the support of the French Development Agency (AFD), which works closely with the Ministry of Agricultural Industry and Food Security. “This is a concrete example of the usefulness of our regional cooperation. Our SEGA network (Epidemiological Surveillance and Alert Management), coordinated by UVS-COI (IOC Health Watch Unit), indeed ensures a constant watch in both human health and animal health and effectively supports member countries facing the risks and epidemic crises “, underlines Madi Hamada, Secretary General of the IOC.
The IOC has been very active since the onset of the foot-and-mouth disease crisis. In particular, it took charge of sending samples of infectious strains to the laboratory of the National Food Safety Agency (ANSES) in France, which was thus able to identify the type of foot-and-mouth disease virus responsible for the disease. epidemic.
Fearing “economic (and health) repercussions linked to the spread of the disease”, French Customs has already prohibited any traveler returning from Mauritius and Rodrigues to import meat, milk and meat products in the European Union.
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