Notice 4 of 2024 from the Directorate of Veterinary Services (DVS), dated 21 February 2024, outlines the surveillance protocol followed in Namibia for any risk-based animal diseases.
Disease surveillance is conducted regularly through inspections by DVS officials at establishments across the country. This serves various purposes, including demonstrating the absence of certain diseases within the country and providing trading partners with assurance that animals or meat originating from Namibia pose no threat. Regular surveillance enables early detection and eradication of specific diseases when outbreaks occur. Disease surveillance also provides information for risk analysis and management.
Emphasis is placed on notifiable diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease, contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (lung disease), Peste des Petits Ruminants (ovine rinderpest), highly pathogenic avian influenza, Newcastle disease, Rinderpest, Rift Valley fever, and rabies.
The frequency of disease surveillance varies depending on the area. In Namibia's recognised disease-free zone, routine inspections by a state veterinarian occur once a year at facilities supplying animals to export abattoirs. Establishments within a 10 km radius of Botswana's infected zones and those in the surveillance zone adjacent to the VCF, receive inspections twice a year. In the event of outbreaks of lung disease, foot-and-mouth disease, or any such disease in Namibia's protected zones (NCA) or a neighbouring country, establishments within a 10 km radius of those borders receive inspections four times a year until the outbreak is cleared. Disease surveillance also occurs at feedlots, abattoirs, and any occasion where livestock is traded.