Review of Rinderpest Control in Southern Sudan 1989-2000 Prepared for the Community-based Animal Health and Epidemiology (CAPE) Unit of the Pan African Programme for the Control of Epizootics (PACE) Bryony Jones March 2001 Acknowledgements The information contained in this document has been collected over the years by southern Sudanese animal health workers, UNICEF/OLS Livestock Project staff, Tufts University consultants, and the staff of NGOs that have supported community-based animal health projects in southern Sudan (ACROSS, ACORD, ADRA, DOT, GAA, NPA, Oxfam-GB, Oxfam-Quebec, SC-UK, VETAID, VSF-B, VSF-CH, VSF-G, Vetwork Services Trust, World Relief). The individuals involved are too numerous to name, but their hard work and contribution of information is gratefully acknowledged. The data from the early years of the OLS Livestock Programme (1993 to 1996) was collated by Tim Leyland, formerly UNICEF/OLS Livestock Project Officer. Disease outbreak information from 1998 to date has been collated by Dr Gachengo Matindi, FAO/OLS Livestock Officer (formerly UNICEF/OLS Livestock Officer). Rinderpest serology and virus testing has mainly been carried out by National Veterinary Research Centre, Muguga, Nairobi. Any errors or omissions in this review are the fault of the author. If any reader has additional information to correct an error or omission the author would be grateful to receive this information. For further information contact: CAPE Unit PACE Programme OAU/IBAR PO Box 30786 Nairobi Tel: Nairobi 226447 Fax: Nairobi 226565 E mail: [email protected] Or the author: Bryony Jones PO Box 13434 Nairobi Kenya Tel: Nairobi 580799 E mail: [email protected] 2 CONTENTS Page 1. Introduction 5 2. Cattle Population and Sub-populations 5 2.1 Cattle Population Estimates 5 2.2 Cattle Sub-populations 6 2.3 Major Cattle Movement between Sub-populations 8 3. Rinderpest Disease Outbreaks 9 3.1 Outbreak Reporting Methods 9 3.2 Rinderpest Outbreaks 10 3.3 Goat Surveillance for PPR and Rinderpest 14 4. Rinderpest Vaccination 14 4.1 Rinderpest Vaccination Figures 14 4.2 Vaccination Coverage 14 5. Sero-monitoring 13 5.1 Sero-monitoring Methods 13 5.2 Sero-monitoring Results 14 6. Information Deficits and Recommendations 14 References 16 Annexes Annex 1. Table 1.1. Southern Sudan Cattle Population Estimates Annex 2. Maps Map 1 Southern Sudan; Physical Features Map 2a Southern Sudan; Regions Map 2b Southern Sudan; Counties/States Map 3 Southern Sudan; Main Ethnic Groups Map 4 Southern Sudan; Cattle Husbandry Systems Map 5 Southern Sudan; Areas under Government and Rebel Control Map 6 Southern Sudan; Cattle Sub-populations Map 7 Maps Showing Rinderpest Outbreaks by Year Annex 3. Rinderpest Vaccination Figures Annex 4. Table 5. OLS Livestock Programme Rinderpest Serology 1991-2000 Tables/Graphs Table 1.1 Summary of Cattle Population Estimates 4 Table 1.2 Southern Sudan Cattle Population Estimates A1-1 Table 2 Rinderpest Disease Outbreak Reports/Rumours 1992-2000 10 Table 3 Goat Sero-surveillance for Rinderpest and PPR 12 Table 4.1 Annual Rinderpest Vaccinations A3-1 Table 4.2 Annual Rinderpest Vaccinations; percentage A3-2 cattle population vaccinated Table 4.3 OLS Livestock Programme Northern Sector 13 Rinderpest Vaccinations 1996-2000 Table 5 OLS Livestock Programme Rinderpest Serology 1991-2000 A4-1 Graph 1 Annual Rinderpest Vaccinations; percentage cattle population A3-4 vaccinated per zone 3 Abbreviations ACORD Agency for Co-operation and Research in Development ACROSS Association of Christian Resource Organisations Serving Sudan ADRA Adventist Development and Relief Association AHA Animal Health Auxiliary CAHW community-based animal health worker CAPE Community-based Animal Health and Participatory Epidemiology Unit CAR Central African Republic DOT Diocese of Torit DRC Democratic Republic of Congo ELISA enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay FAO Food and Agriculture Organisation GAA German Agro-Action GOS Government of Sudan ICRC International Committee of the Red Cross NGO non-governmental organisation NPA Norwegian People’s Aid NVRC National Veterinary Research Centre OAU/IBAR Organisation of African Unity - Interafrican Bureau for Animal Resources OLS Operation Lifeline Sudan PACE Pan African Programme for the Control of Epizootics PARC Pan-African Rinderpest Campaign PPR Peste des Petits Ruminants SC-UK Save the Children – United Kingdom SPLA Sudan People’s Liberation Army SPLM Sudan People’s Liberation Movement SSIM South Sudan Independence Movement UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund VSF-B Veterinaires sans Frontiers – Belgium VSF-CH Veterinaires sans Frontiers – Switzerland VSF-G Veterinaires sans Frontiers - Germany 4 1. Introduction This review aims to present within one document information related to rinderpest control in southern Sudan from the period during which the Operation Lifeline Sudan (OLS) Southern Sector Livestock Programme has been operating; 1989 to 2000. The review aims to be an information resource for the development of the rinderpest elimination strategy for southern Sudan, as part of the global rinderpest eradication effort. The review focuses mainly on the rebel-controlled areas of southern Sudan (southern sector) where it is more difficult for the government veterinary services to collect information, with the aim of complementing Pan-African Rinderpest Campaign (PARC) Sudan information and obtaining a comprehensive picture of the rinderpest status of the southern region of Sudan. The information presented has been collated from the internal files, database and reports of the OLS Livestock Programme Co-ordinator, and has been collected over the years of the programme by southern Sudanese animal health workers, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)/OLS and non-governmental organisation (NGO) personnel, and has been reported to UNICEF/OLS Livestock Project as the co-ordinating agency of the OLS Livestock Programme. The role of OLS Livestock Programme Co-ordination has recently been taken over by Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)/OLS. There are gaps in the available information and the important deficits are discussed in section 6. 2. Cattle population and sub-populations 2.1 Cattle Population Estimates The size of the cattle population in the southern region of Sudan has been estimated using various methods by the Government of Sudan (GOS) and by the OLS Livestock Programme (Table 1.1 below, Table 1.2 in Annex 1). Table 1.1 Summary of Cattle Population Estimates 1975-7 1998 OLS Southern OLS Northern Sector GOS Aerial GOS (3) Sector working areas not included in Census (1) figures working figures Eastern Equatoria 797,774 1,545,805 529,850 Torit, Lafon, Kapoeta, Riwoto, Juba, Terekeka Western Equatoria 229 590,464 83,500 - Jonglei 1,404,553 1,284,517 1,202,000 Bor, Pibor, New Fangak Upper Nile 1,428,092 1,894,803 1,433,400 Malakal, Kodok, Nasir, Longucuk, Bentiu, Mayom, Renk Lakes 700,719 1,660,000 - 4,965,793 Northern Bahr el 1,227,707 874,000 Wau, Aweil, Raga Ghazal TOTAL 5,559,074 10,281,382 5,782,750 1-2 million 6.8 – 7.8 million During 1975-7 a national aerial livestock census was carried out by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, which estimated the total population of the southern region to be 5.6 million (1). A concurrent ground survey indicated that there was an estimated net cattle population growth of 12% (1). A second aerial survey was carried out in 1983 covering the Jonglei Canal area by the National Council for Development of the Jonglei Canal Area, Ministry for National Planning (2). Bor, Kongor, Ayod, Waat and Fangak Districts were surveyed during both wet and dry seasons. The total population varied from 471,339 in mid wet season to 784,669 in late dry season. Since the districts surveyed make up approximately half of the Jonglei region, it is not possible to make a direct comparison with the 1975-7 survey. Cattle population figures provided by Government of Sudan in 1998 give an estimated population of 10,281,382 for the southern region (3). The method of data collection is not known to the author. 5 The OLS Southern Sector Livestock Programme has been attempting to estimate the cattle population in the accessible rebel-controlled areas (southern sector). Whenever an agency starts activities in a new area an estimate is made, and this is periodically updated. Various methods of estimation have been used and include: • questioning key informants, • direct observation in villages and cattle camps, • participatory mapping, • listing of chiefs and their cattle camps or villages, • household surveys, • vaccination figures. In most of the pastoralist and agro-pastoralist tribes it is taboo to ask how many cattle a person owns. This makes direct questioning, household surveys, or obvious counting of cattle very difficult. When asking about the overall population of an area, key informants tend to exaggerate figures. This may be because they don’t know the real figure or due to pride or because a higher figure might bring increased animal health inputs. Estimation by listing chiefs and their cattle camps or villages can also result in exaggerated figures for similar reasons. The best method for estimation is probably a combination of several of the above methods to allow cross checking of figures. The OLS Livestock Programme estimates for 1993 to 2000 have been collected by UNICEF and NGOs using one or more of the above methods. Figures for each administrative area therefore vary in accuracy. When estimating the population, experience has shown that it is important to be clear which geographical area is being estimated and whether it is the wet or dry season population. The wet season population of a given area includes the cattle in their permanent ‘highland’ villages or camps, whilst the dry season population may include cattle entering from neighbouring areas for dry season grazing. The population in a given area may vary considerably between years because of displacement due to insecurity, return of previously displaced people, and loss of cattle through raiding, disease or increased off take due to famine.