UN issues warning over displaced cattle in Sudan
As livestock owners flee the protracted conflict, the FAO said it would scale-up its livestock interventions in the country, in a situation which it said threatened the very fabric of society and further undermined South Sudan’s social stability.
The displacement of cattle has lead to fresh outbreaks of disease - as the movement of livestock has led disease to spread to previously unaffected areas - as well as increasing tension between pastoral groups and farmers, it said.
As part of the FAO’s continued efforts in the area teams of experts have traversed the country conducting assessments and disease investigations.
It will also be expanding its community-based animal health network and vaccination programme, deploying staff to lead and support disease surveillance efforts, and helping to re-establish local laboratories for livestock disease diagnosis, it said.
Sue Lautze, FAO representative to South Sudan, commented: "From the earliest days of the crisis, FAO has done its utmost to draw attention to the silent emergency that these unusual livestock migrations represent."
