When foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) hits, animals don’t usually die from the virus. They die from pain, dehydration, starvation and neglect. In the current outbreak, too many animals are being lost not because recovery is impossible, but because practical support is missing. Isolation may slow the spread of the disease, but without intervention it simply isolates animals while they deteriorate. If we truly want to save livestock and livelihoods, we must shift the focus back to the animal.
By Ayanda Mbotshelwa
I am increasingly frustrated by the lack of leadership from state scientists when it comes to practical, hands-on interventions for animals affected by FMD. The silence on how to support sick animals creates the impression that it is somehow acceptable to leave them to suffer and die. That cannot be right. This is why I feel compelled to speak out.
Foot-and-mouth disease is a devastating condition, and outbreaks inevitably result in significant losses. What is often misunderstood, however, is why those losses occur.
In most cases, animals do not die suddenly from the virus itself. They are lost because pain, mouth ulcers and foot lesions prevent them from eating and drinking. Once feed and water intake drops, the animal’s immunity collapses, secondary infections take hold and recovery becomes unlikely. That is where the real damage occurs.
Farmers Need Proper Guidance
At a time of growing misinformation and fear, leadership matters. Farmers are desperate for clear, practical guidance during this period of uncertainty – because animals are at risk and because livelihoods are on the line. For many households, livestock represent income, food security, school fees and survival.
Although vaccination is an essential component of long-term FMD control, there is currently a troubling gap between policy and practice. Farmers are left without clear direction on the day-to-day interventions needed to keep animals alive, protect livelihoods and preserve dignity, while broader control programmes are still being implemented.
Isolation is necessary to limit the spread of FMD, but isolation alone does not save animals.
An isolated animal that cannot eat, drink or manage pain is simply isolated while deteriorating. The real starting point in managing FMD – or any viral disease – is not the virus itself. It is supporting the animal long enough for its immune system to respond and do its work.
That support must focus on the basics:
- Reducing pain and inflammation so animals can stand, move and reach feed and water;
- Providing soft, easily accessible nutrition when chewing is painful;
- Ensuring adequate hydration when animals stop drinking early;
- Supporting immune function so antibodies can develop; and
- Preventing opportunistic infections while tissues are damaged and vulnerable.
These are not “optional” or secondary interventions. They are the difference between recovery and loss. Many animals do recover from FMD when they are supported properly. The tragedy is that too many are lost before their immune systems are ever given a chance to respond.
Survival does not start with panic or isolation alone. It starts with the animal.
Immune and nutritional support, such as that provided by TaliMune PLUS, sometimes combined with SureWean RTU in severe cases, can play a critical role in keeping animals strong enough to survive the disease while their immune systems do the work required for recovery.
FMD | Send your questions, comments and advice to online@africanfarming.com
*Ayanda Mbotshelwa is an experienced leader, marketer and rural development practitioner with more than 15 years of experience in multinational pharmaceutical companies. In 2012, he founded Talitha Pharma®, where he launched the Livestock Health and Production (LHeaP) Programme to enhance productivity in communal and smallholder farming systems.
Also read:
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