Malawi government calls for early animal disease detection
Malawi’s government has called for sustainable early animal disease detection to contain a virus threatening the country's sheep population.
The government has made the plea to prevent peste des petits, which attacks goats and sheep, leading to a dramatic blow to livestock production.
The local press in Malawi reported that the minister of agriculture and food security Dr James Munthali said: “There is need to consider sustainable early warning systems to effectively contain both emerging and re-emerging diseases.”
Munthali pointed out that a goat and sheep plague in Tanzania had killed nearly all of its livestock.
He said: “It is obvious that our neighbours have the propensity to consume a lot of meat and meat products from Malawi – hence the launch of the initiative to cordon off any possibility of an outbreak critical to containing diseases of economic importance.”
