Outbreaks of contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP) – an insidious pneumonic disease in cattle – have been recorded in the Department of Dogondoutchi, in the Dosso region in Niger, for almost a month.
The disease has been around for about 10 years but has been kept at bay and controlled by regular vaccination campaigns.
Although it does not affect humans, it is highly contagious and deadly for cattle, which will simply waste away to the point of death.
Dr Saadou Moussa, head of the cabinet responsible for the vaccination of livestock in the Dogondouctchi Department: international corridor, said the outbreaks were caused the transboundary movement of Azawak animals.
CBPP is spread mainly by inhalation of droplets from infected coughing animals, especially if they are in the acute phase of the disease.
Although close and repeated contact is generally thought to be necessary for transmission, transmission can occur up to 200 metres under favourable climatic conditions.
The organism also occurs in saliva, urine, foetal membranes and uterine discharges.
Cattle movement and cattle gatherings are important factors in the spread of the disease.
Clinically, CBPP is manifested by anorexia, fever and respiratory symptoms such as dyspnoea, cough and nasal discharges. CBPP is found in the acute, subacute and chronic forms.
Moussa described it as a dangerous disease for livestock, saying: “There is no curative care.”
Pastoralists in the area along the border with Nigeria, have also reported cases of CBPP.
Lecturer and researcher Dr Issa Ibrahim Abdoulkarim said: “Transmission from one animal to another requires very close contact between the two animals so that they can exchange the bacteria,” adding that in Niger, the disease “affects large ruminants, in other words cattle”.
Signs of the disease include a shortness of breath with respiratory problems and, when performing an autopsy, lesions in the lungs are observed.
There is also an accumulation of fibrin, a tough protein substance that is arranged in long fibrous chains, said Abdoulkarim.
Unvaccinated cattle “will suffer a lot and will waste away to the point of death”.
The meat of an animal affected by CBPP is edible for humans, he said.
“It turns out that the bacterium responsible for CBPP has no effect on the human body. Its consumption by humans does not present a risk of developing any disease.”
However “repugnance” could put people off consuming the meat because often there can be visible lesions.
Abdoulkarim said the only solution to control outbreaks CBPP was to vaccinate cattle.
