The re-occurring cases of foot and mouth diseases in cattle is affecting cattle grazers in Fufore Local Government Area of Adamawa, an official said.
Mr John Na’imu, a Director of Agriculture and Veterinary Department in Fufore Local Government Council, raised the alarm in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Fufore on Tuesday.
NAN reports that Fufore Local Government Area is a border town with Cameroo, where every year between three million and five million cows cross the border.
Na'imu said that “the foot-and-mouth disease is a severe and highly communicable disease affecting cattle, and is found in most African countries and it is caused by a virus.?
He said that “the disease is characterised by blister like lesions on the cattle tongue, nose and lips, the mouth, on the teats and between the toes which then burst, leaving painful ulcers.
“The virus is extremely contagious and spreads rapidly among cows unless it is contained.''
The director said that he was worried that the sore disease had almost affected every cattle settlement in the area and there was no vaccine to contain the menace.
He regretted that some of the cattle grazers were now using traditional herbs to manage the disease.
“The case of foot-and-mouth disease you can rightly say is found almost in every cattle settlement in the area; we hardly missed the occurrence of the disease.
“It has become something that occurred every year, because we share international border with Cameroon and most of the communities along the line are contagious with the disease,'' Na'imu said.
He said that for the past six years, there was no vaccination of the disease in the area, adding that the disease had caused loss of several cows.
“There are continuous challenges due to the high number of cattle importation into the country through the area and since 2004 no single foot-and-mouth vaccination exercise took place,'' Na'imu said. (NAN)