Travellers utilising the airstrip and Takutu Bridge at Lethem next week will have their footwear and vehicles disinfected as part of a simulation exercise to test local preparedness to deal with an outbreak of the foot-and-mouth disease.
The Ministry of Agriculture will be running the simulation in Region 9 from December 13 to December 17, Cabinet Secretary Dr. Roger Luncheon disclosed on Wednesday at his post-Cabinet news briefing. “Currently Guyana is certified free of foot-and-mouth disease but the disease is quite endemic among the cloven hoof cattle herds of our neighbours. Its occurrence has devastating socio-economic consequences with mandatory quarantines for both human and cattle, the extensive culling of exposed herds, restriction of movement and of course rejection or non-acceptance of exports of cattle and their products,” he said.
He stated that the simulation was not the first and was most likely not going to be the last and noting the seriousness of the disease, he added that it was one which was best avoided rather than treated.
A ministry official subsequently told Stabroek News that there will be a “full quarantine of the simulated infected area.” This buffer zone, the official added, would have a three-mile radius. Residents can expect a “heavy control” of people in and out of the zone and a designated “infected farm” while all animal movement in the area will be prohibited.
In addition to having their footwear disinfected, departing passengers will also have to fill out a small questionnaire aimed at gathering information for an epidemiological survey. The ministry’s staff will also be questioning residents in the buffer zone for information for the survey.
The ministry official, in noting that residents should not be alarmed since it was just an exercise, said there will also be police and army personnel present in the buffer zone while the ministry’s staff will have personal protective equipment.
The exercise is being done in conjunction with the local government bodies and law enforcement personnel in the region and is supported by international agencies including the Food and Agriculture Organisation, CARICOM and the US Department of Agriculture.
