The World Organisation for Animal Health has certified Nigeria rinderpest-free, reports theNews Agency of Nigeria (NAN) NAN reports that rinderpest is an infectious viral disease of cattle, sheep, goats and domestic buffalo as well as some species of wildlife.

It is commonly referred to as cattle plague, while the disease is characterised  by fever, oral erosions, diarrhoea and high mortality.
Receiving the ‘Certificate of Rinderpest Freedom’ yesterday in Abuja from the Acting Director Livestock, Dr James Nyager, minister of agriculture,

Prof Ahmad Abdallah asked the veterinarians to ensure that the success attained was maintained.
They should equally give attention to other trans-boundary animal diseases, he demanded.

“You veterinarians as a professional should be more proactive in the planning and development of viable control strategies against animal diseases in general,” he said.

Abdallah said the ministry would provide adequate funding for surveillance and also encourage the three tiers of government to set aside a percentage of their budgets for strengthening of veterinary service.

“It is our collective responsibility to ensure that we provide viable environment for production of healthy meat and other animal products for human consumption that is free of zoonotic diseases,” he said.

The minister commended the efforts of donors and development partners, especially the African Union-Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) and the International Office for Epizootics (OIE).

While presenting the certificate, Nyager noted that the road to eradication of rinderpest had been tortuous but with strong determination the eradication became a remarkable triumph for the veterinary services.

He explained that the surveillance standards for rinderpest, known as the “OIE Pathway, provided a guide for countries to demonstrate their freedom from the disease and have the status of rinderpest freedom recognised by the international community through OIE.

He stated that the freedom was achieved, following effective veterinary services to monitor animal health situation in the country, as well as to investigate all clinical evidences suggestive of rinderpest, border control and effective reporting system from the OIE, with consistent report of freedom from infection for a period of at least two years.

Nyager recalled that towards attaining the freedom, Nigeria stopped vaccination in 1998 and declared itself provisionally free of the disease.
In 2005, it was awarded rinderpest-disease freedom by OIE and it was declared infection free by the OIE in 2010.

Dr Junaid Maina, a consultant to the World Organisation for Animal Health, told NAN that although the disease had been eradicated in Nigeria, all stakeholders should be on the alert, adding that funds and capacity building should be constant.

NAN recalls that rinderpest virus re-emerged in Nigeria from Sudan in 1983, causing the country the death of many animals and loss of international trade.
Rinderpest is the second disease to be eradicated after small pox.