The fencing issue relative to the control of foot-and-mouth disease

Certain livestock diseases in sub-Saharan Africa, such as foot-and-mouth disease are difficult to control because of the large numbers of infected wildlife hosts. These wildlife disease reservoirs form a continuous hazard of transmittal of the diseases to domestic livestock, which limits the access of livestock products from southern Africa to international markets. The disease reservoirs are often found in border areas between countries with susceptible species and infected reservoir animals continuously crossing the border. A regional approach to disease control is probably the only way to achieve any real progress. Here we review the positive and negative attributes of fencing as a control mechanism for disease transmission.