A total of 36 districts have been affected and under quarantine following the outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease, agriculture minister, Frank Tumwebaze, has said.

These include; Budaka, Bukedea, Bukomansimbi, Bunyangabu, Butaleja, FortPortal City, Gomba and lbanda.

Others are; Isingiro, Kabarole, Kasanda, Kayunga, Kazo, Kiboga, Kibuku, Kiruhura, Kumi, Kyankwanzi, Kyegegwa, Kyotera, Luuka, Lwengo, Lyantonde, Mbarara, Mbarara City, Mityrana, Mpigi, Mubende, Nakaseke, Nakasongola, Namisindwa, Ngora, Ntungamo, Rakai, Rwampara and Sembabule

“I appeal to the district veterinary authorities to ensure strict disease surveillance, timely reporting and ensure transparency and accountability in the administration of the government-provided vaccines,” the minister said.

The minister told Parliament on Thursday, February 1, 2024, that his ministry is seeking support for a supplementary budget to procure another 10 million doses to cover all the affected and high-risk districts.

“We need to support and equip district veterinary officials with disease surveillance tools. In the next one or two months, we expect to receive and dispatch 2.3m doses of the vaccine to these affected and susceptible districts for ring vaccination scale-up,” the minister submitted.

He explained that quarantines are unpopular and an inconvenience to people's livelihoods but yet again inevitable as temporary measures to control further spread to alarming and uncontrollable epidemic levels.

The minister said that 44 million animals require vaccination against Foot and Mouth Disease.

"This requires an annual vaccine stock of 88 million doses for the bi-annual vaccination requirement for $2 per dose translating into $176 million. If the stakeholders can be disciplined and comply with the quarantine protocols, the disease will resolve/be contained in a very short time as we also wait for the vaccines,” he said.

Vaccine crisis

According to Dr Abed Bwanika (Kimaanya-Kabonera), a trained veterinarian, two things account for recurrent FMD outbreaks in the country.

“Apart from animal control, the provision and availability of efficacious vaccines. National Research Organisation (NARO) which is an organisation for the Government has invested heavily in innovation and is ready to produce vaccines from this country,” Bwanika

“They need funds. I want to request that when the Minister is coming to Parliament, he should appraise Parliament on how far NARO has reached in ensuring that they produce vaccines in Uganda,” he added.

Fast forward, Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa deferred the matter to Thursday next, week.

“Clerk when you are extracting the information for the minister (Frank Tumwebaze) please include that. I would say that for FMD, let’s just look at this on Thursday. I will give you enough time to discuss this issue,” he ruled.