Cattle fever dealt a blow on the nose

Wildebeest on their annual migration pass the virus on to local livestock

The annual spectacular migration of over one million wildebeest across the Serengeti and Masai Mara in Kenya and Tanzania, presents two sides of the coin, in that this migration is a beautiful sight to behold, but with it comes disease and death to the pastoralist livestock.

…Malignant catarrhal fever (MCF) is transmitted from wildebeest to cattle during the annual migration of over a million wildebeest across the Serengeti and Masai Mara in Kenya and Tanzania. The cattle die five days after symptoms are observed.

About a tenth of the around 100,000 Masai livestock are ravaged by MCF every year according to Sarah Cleaveland, an expert in animal diseases and local livelihoods at the United Kingdom’s University of Glasgow.

Scientists had been searching for a vaccine for 50 years but, two years ago, researchers from the University of Nottingham in the UK, in collaboration with wildlife authorities in Tanzania, developed what they say is the first potential vaccine for the disease.