Cow affected by Lumpy Skin Disease @FAO/Wilmot

HARARE, 21 October 2022 – The mandate, priorities and strategic framework of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), are anchored around better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life, leaving no one behind. While majority of the 16 countries in the SADC region use English as the official language, five use French and two use Portuguese. Since 2020, through its Virtual Learning Centre for Southern Africa (SFS-VLC), FAO has been delivering online courses to veterinarians and veterinary paraprofessionals solely in English.

It is against this background that FAO, the European Commission for the control of foot and mouth disease (EuFMD) with the technical support from Sciensano, the Belgian public and animal health research institute and reference laboratory for lumpy skin disease (LSD) in Europe, launched the first online LSD course in French, targeting countries in southern Africa, while opening up for participation by Francophone countries in Eastern Africa.

“During the fourth quarter of 2021, the VLC translated course materials into French and Portuguese. Today we gather to witness the launch of the first online course on lumpy skin disease being delivered in French on the SFS-VLC platform. As the VLC’s objective is to build capacity and provide continuous professional development to veterinarians and veterinary paraprofessionals through online learning, the French-speaking countries in the SADC region should not be left behind,” said Patrice Talla, FAO Subregional Coordinator for Southern Africa in his remarks during the launch of the course.

Lumpy skin disease is a vector-borne pox disease of domestic cattle and Asian water buffalo that is characterized by the appearance of skin nodules often associated with cattle deaths. Southern Africa can best be described as the cradle of lumpy skin disease. The world’s first outbreak was reported in Zambia in 1929 and spread all across Africa before escaping to the rest of the world. The disease is endemic in all SADC countries, where it poses considerable economic losses. Surprisingly, despite its long association with the region, there is still a lack of expertise to prevent, diagnose and control the disease.

“It is really important to build capacity in terms of preparedness for LSD outbreaks,” commented Géraldine Boseret, a veterinary epidemiologist at Sciensano who is a trainer in the course. "Between 2014 and 2018, numerous LSD epidemics demonstrated the importance of awareness amongst key field professionals, such as veterinarians and veterinary paraprofessionals in prevention and control,” added Boseret. 

Although the SFS-VLC courses delivered in English were open to French and Portuguese-speaking veterinarians, the enrolment and course completion rates were very low. This created a demand and need to develop courses in French and Portuguese. In addition, at the SADC Livestock Technical Committee meeting held in 2020, member states expressed the need for VLC to develop training courses in French and Portuguese to cater for the other two languages of the region.

Eighty-two veterinarians and veterinary paraprofessionals from the SADC region have enrolled into this French LSD course from the DRC, Mauritius, Madagascar, Seychelles, Comoros, Burundi and Rwanda. Of these, 21 participants attended the webinar marking the start of this 4-week training that will end on 17 November 2022. Trainees will be equipped with skills in clinical diagnosis, laboratory diagnosis, prevention and control measures that include annual vaccination of cattle. The expectation is that an improvement in early detection of and response to LSD outbreaks, will lead to gradual reduction in the impact of the disease on livestock production and productivity in the region.

Plans are in place to deliver the same course in Portuguese, targeting Angola and Mozambique, in 2023. The SFS-VLC will also deliver training in Portuguese on African swine fever, yet another of the major transboundary animal diseases in the region, during the first half of 2023