Fight against Ebola in SADC and East African Region

A major progress has been made on the fight against communicable diseases from animals to human being such as the rift valley and Ebola, which in recent years have posed threats in some parts of the SADC and East African region.

 

This was said in Morogoro region by researchers and scientists from Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, South Africa and UK, who are meeting in the region to strategize scientific ways of preventing the diseases from animals to human being and vice versa.

 

Citing an example of lift valley disease, a lecturer of Sokoine University of agriculture, Gerald Msinzo said that researchers were working on several samples from animals, testing them in laboratories so that the results would be used to establish practical solutions for the diseases.

 

For his part, a researcher, Jo Lines of UK, explained that so far significant progress has been made in malaria which is one of the area of research.

 

He said that other diseases such as Ebola were also been worked on, and that he was optimistic that the research findings would bear desired fruits.

 

Dalie Wesseles, a researcher from South Africa was on the view that there was a need to train focal points in different parts of the region and set up guiding principles on how best they can deal with the diseases.

Livestock constitutes an important natural resource of the Southern African Region, with over 60 percent of the region’s total land area suitable for livestock farming.

Although the livestock sector offers the region a unique opportunity for accelerated economic growth in the region, in some areas, diversification and increased poor animal disease control and husbandry, are turning the opportunities into threats.