Gombe Launches Livestock Vaccination Against CBPP, FMD and PPR

Dateline: Gombe State, Nigeria | 8 October 2026

Gombe State has commenced its 2025/2026 annual livestock vaccination campaign, targeting three major livestock diseases: contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP), foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) and peste des petits ruminants (PPR). The campaign covers cattle, sheep and goats and is intended to protect livestock health, support food security and strengthen the livelihoods of livestock-dependent communities.

The campaign was formally launched by Deputy Governor Manassah Jatau at Tumfure Bashar along the Gombe–Biu bypass in Akko Local Government Area. State officials called on local governments, traditional leaders, livestock associations, farmers and other stakeholders to help ensure that animals are made available for vaccination.

The initiative is particularly relevant because livestock movement may increase around the harvest season, creating opportunities for disease transmission between herds and across administrative boundaries.

Three diseases with significant production consequences

CBPP is a contagious respiratory disease of cattle caused by Mycoplasma mycoides subsp. mycoides. It can cause severe respiratory illness, production losses and mortality, with consequences for livestock owners and cattle markets.

FMD is a highly contagious viral disease affecting cloven-hoofed animals, including cattle, sheep, goats and pigs. It can spread rapidly and disrupt animal movement and trade. Its impact varies by species, virus strain, immunity and production setting, but outbreaks can create substantial costs through lost productivity, movement controls and control measures.

PPR is a serious viral disease affecting sheep and goats. It can cause fever, respiratory and digestive signs, and high mortality in susceptible populations. For smallholder producers, an outbreak may threaten household income and the availability of animals for food and sale.

Vaccination is an important preventive tool against these diseases, but campaign effectiveness depends on using appropriate vaccines, maintaining product quality and cold-chain conditions, achieving adequate coverage and following disease-specific schedules.

Campaign implementation and veterinary infrastructure

State officials said Gombe has taken steps to strengthen animal-health services, including creating a Ministry of Livestock Development, renovating and equipping veterinary clinics, developing a veterinary diagnostic laboratory and establishing a solar-powered cold-chain facility.

These investments can support vaccination and disease surveillance by improving access to veterinary services and helping preserve vaccine quality. Cold-chain reliability is especially important for vaccines that require controlled storage conditions; a campaign’s nominal dose count alone does not establish that vaccine potency was maintained.

Officials also referred to livestock training facilities and ongoing vaccination activity as part of a broader preventive-health strategy.

The state government is developing an 184-hectare Special Livestock Development Zone, which is intended to include livestock production and processing infrastructure, an abattoir, a tannery, an international livestock market, a veterinary hospital, poultry facilities and an inland dry port. If implemented effectively, these facilities could support a more organised livestock value chain.

Mortality claims and the need for transparent measurement

The state’s Commissioner for Livestock Development said livestock mortality had declined from 28.1% in 2022 to 12.2% in 2025. This is an important claim, but the public report did not provide the underlying methodology, denominator, species breakdown or independent verification.

The figures should therefore be attributed to the state official rather than treated as an independently validated national or state-wide epidemiological estimate. A clearer assessment would require details on the population covered, the diseases included, the definition of mortality and whether the figures refer to all livestock or selected production systems.

Likewise, the campaign’s success should be assessed through more than the number of animals vaccinated. Coverage among eligible animals, geographic reach, cold-chain compliance, adverse-event reporting, outbreak trends and post-vaccination monitoring are all relevant indicators.

Why the timing matters

The campaign coincides with a period when animal movement can rise as farmers sell livestock, move animals between grazing areas or trade across local markets. Such movement can complicate disease control when animals have unknown vaccination histories or are transported without adequate health checks.

The state government has urged livestock owners to make animals available for vaccination, report suspected disease promptly and avoid obtaining veterinary medicines or vaccines from unapproved sources.

Coordination among state and federal veterinary services is also important. Diseases do not respect administrative boundaries, and vaccination in one locality may be less effective if neighbouring populations remain susceptible or if infected animals continue to move unchecked.

Implications for Nigeria’s livestock sector

The campaign illustrates how preventive veterinary services are connected to food security and rural livelihoods. Disease outbreaks can reduce production, increase treatment costs and disrupt access to markets. Effective vaccination programmes can reduce these risks, provided they are supported by surveillance, veterinary staffing, reliable supplies and community participation.

For animal-health companies and development partners, the opportunity lies in strengthening delivery systems as well as supplying vaccines. Cold-chain equipment, diagnostic capacity, trained field teams, accurate animal-population estimates and accessible reporting channels all contribute to campaign performance.

Analyst view

Gombe’s vaccination drive is a constructive preventive-health measure, with its impact likely to depend on coverage and execution. The inclusion of CBPP, FMD and PPR addresses diseases with materially different transmission patterns and control requirements, so each programme needs appropriate technical planning and monitoring.

The longer-term opportunity is to connect vaccination to a broader livestock-health system—one that combines disease surveillance, veterinary infrastructure, animal identification, movement management and transparent reporting of results.

For Nigeria, the strategic test is whether annual vaccination campaigns can consistently translate into fewer outbreaks, lower avoidable mortality and more reliable livestock production.