Livestock Health Monitoring
The WCS-Congo veterinary/health team has established a monitoring program in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture to try and assess the risks of disease transmission from cattle to wildlife with the aim of improving current disease control and prevention programs.
Diagnostic tests for a number of different pathogens are conducted on a random sample of between 10-30% of imported cattle are given, combined with clinical observations and parasitological analysis.
Around 270 cattle are imported into the town of Pokola in northern Congo each year from Chad, CAR and Cameroon. These cattle are enter the forest to graze, using areas that are also used by forest buffalo and antelope, species which are particularly susceptible to disease transmission from cattle.
The monitoring project includes an important capacity building element for staff from the Ministry of Agriculture, who are responsible for livestock health. Local representatives are trained in conducting physical examinations of cattle, the detection of lesions and other illnesses, the administration and analysis of tuberculosis tests, sampling and parasitology. The study is an important component for the provision of alternative protein sources to urban populations.