The shortage of vaccines is hindering the fight against a foot and mouth disease (FMD) outbreak in Mashonaland Central and Mashonaland East provinces, an official has revealed.

An official from the Veterinary Services Department, Reverend Spargo, on Tuesday, told a livestock business forum in Bulawayo that they are now importing vaccines from Botswana to augment local supplies. He said:

We have limited availability of vaccines to contain the outbreak, and we import vaccines from Botswana.

We are doing surveillance in the affected areas through weekly cattle inspections, as well as mounting static and roving veterinary checkpoints to ensure compliance with livestock movement restrictions.

FMD has killed 87 cattle and four goats this year alone after they were illegally moved.

Spargo added that about 80% of foot and mouth disease outbreaks are caused by the illegal movement of livestock.

He added that the other factors are the transboundary cattle and buffalo interactions. | NewsDay