Mozambican technicians trained in detection and surveillance of the PPR
For five days, 11 technicians attended a training in detection, surveillance and epidemiology of the peste des petits ruminants (PPR). The goal of the workshop – which was promoted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and by the Ministry of Agriculture (MINAG)/DNSV – was to train laboratory technicians in order to contribute to PPR disease preparedness in case of its introduction into Mozambique. The technicians learned and improved their skills in laboratorial techniques for PPR diagnosis which will allow them to monitor the epidemic situation of the disease. Among these techniques, the Head of the Virology Division of the Central Veterinary Laboratory of the Department of Animal Science at the Institute for Agricultural Research of Mozambique (IIAM), Lourenço Mapaco, said are the Elisa and the RT-PCR tests. "If on the one hand PCR is more sensitive, immediately detecting the disease after infection, Elisa on the other hand has the advantage of being cheaper and allowing the processing of more samples simultaneously", Mapaco said.
The workshop benefitted three technicians from the provinces of Niassa, Cabo Delgado, and Manica and other eight from the Central Veterinary Laboratory of IIAM’s Department of Animal Science.
According to Julieta Anapakala, a technician at the Cabo Delgado Provincial Veterinary Laboratory, the training enabled her to "acquire the necessary knowledge to adequately act, namely on how to proceed in terms of collecting samples, for instance, in case PPR enters Mozambique".
The provinces of Cabo Delgado and Niassa are most exposed to PPR, since they border with since 2008/2009 PPR-affected Tanzania. Since then, the neighboring countries – Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia – have been carrying out sero-surveillance programs in the border areas. "The goal is to keep all three countries free from PPR", the Coordinator of the project "Capacity building to prevent peste des petits ruminants (PPR) introduction into Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia", Agostinho de Nazaré Bangueze, said. "If these countries are free from the disease", he added, "we will be protecting not only the population of small ruminants in Mozambique, Malawi and Zambia, but also the population of the entire Southern African Development Community (SADC) region since this is a buffer zone."
This means that not only will 4 million small ruminants be protected in Mozambique and 12 million in all three countries together but a total of 45 million in the entire SADC region. Therefore, "it is important that the work of sero-surveillance is permanent and intensified", as the Head of the Central Veterinary Laboratory of IIAM’s Department of Animal Science, Sara Achá, said. Rafael Sallu, the consultant hired by FAO to lead the workshop, also said that "it is crucial that Mozambique and the other countries that share borders with Tanzania take protection measures, not only in terms of training the veterinary staff but also in terms of clarification among the population".
The project "Capacity building to prevent peste des petits ruminants (PPR) introduction into Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia" aims at improving knowledge and public awareness of the disease and strengthening national and regional early warning and preparedness (through contingency plans), as well as exploring regional preparedness on reagents, vaccine bank and other diagnostic material for it to be available in the countries of the southern part of SADC.
Among the key stakeholders are the veterinary services, veterinary laboratories, the owners of small ruminants, traders, local authorities, non-governmental organizations working in the veterinary area and the district/regional administration services.
The indirect beneficiaries are all small ruminant producers, the wool industry and the veterinary services in the neighboring countries: South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Swaziland and Zimbabwe.