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2 November 2010
Southern Africa: Deadly Animal Virus Could Spread to Southern Africa, UN Agency Warns
Sheep and goats are critical to herders' livelihoods
A deadly animal virus which broke out earlier this year in Tanzania could spread to Southern Africa, threatening the lives of more than 50 million sheep and goats in 15 countries, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned today.
Known as Peste des Petits Ruminants, or small ruminants' plague (PPR), it is considered the most destructive viral disease affecting small flocks, on par with rinderpest, a deadly cattle plague that has wreaked havoc on agriculture for millennia, resulting in famine and economic destruction.
PPR can cause death rates of up to 100 per cent in sheep and goats, and while it does not affect humans, the disease can cause enormous socio-economic losses.
Read more, AllAfrica
Southern Africa: Deadly Animal Virus Could Spread to Southern Africa, UN Agency Warns
Sheep and goats are critical to herders' livelihoods
A deadly animal virus which broke out earlier this year in Tanzania could spread to Southern Africa, threatening the lives of more than 50 million sheep and goats in 15 countries, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned today.
Known as Peste des Petits Ruminants, or small ruminants' plague (PPR), it is considered the most destructive viral disease affecting small flocks, on par with rinderpest, a deadly cattle plague that has wreaked havoc on agriculture for millennia, resulting in famine and economic destruction.
PPR can cause death rates of up to 100 per cent in sheep and goats, and while it does not affect humans, the disease can cause enormous socio-economic losses.
Read more, AllAfrica