Need to control cattle disease

CONTAINING an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease among cattle in war-torn South Sudan was crucial to prevent damage to livelihoods across the region, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said. About 200 000 cattle in an area bordering Sudan and another region near Uganda had been affected by a recent outbreak, Serge Tissot, a representative of the UN agency in South Sudan, told reporters yesterday. He spoke at the opening of a $19 000 (about R250 800) testing laboratory to be jointly run by the FAO and the government. The country’s 12 million cattle contribute “hugely to the economy, and if not controlled, the disease would have adverse effects on livelihoods, not only for South Sudan but also trans-boundary”, FAO regional representative Patrick Kormawa said. South Sudan’s civil war that began in December 2013 had claimed tens of thousands of lives and forced more than 3 million people from their homes.