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important and threatening disease of livestock therefore dictates that FMD is the most important disease in the KAZA TFCA, because Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe (up to 2002) achieved access for their beef to the EU market by creating FMD-­‐free zones without vaccination of cattle. This involves ensuring separation between cattle and buffalo by the creation of a protection zone in which cattle are vaccinated and by implementing strict movement controls. Zimbabwe lost its access after uncontrolled FMD outbreaks occurred in the formerly free zones from 2002 onwards owing to ineffective disease management. Botswana has temporarily lost access to the EU beef market owing to problems with its traceability system and food safety issues in its export abattoirs. FMD is one of the most regulated animal diseases in the region, featuring prominently in the legislation of all the countries included in the study. An upsurge in the occurrence of FMD in SADC countries from 2002 -­‐ 2009 compared with the preceding 20 years was noted by Thobokwe et al. (2010). The change was attributed to climatic factors such as flooding that resulted in increased wildlife movement and mixing with domestic livestock as well as excessive reliance on vaccination. Other factors may include poor fence maintenance, decreased efficacy of vaccination, and generally poor disease management and control procedures in some countries in the region. There is evidence that vaccines against FMD in use currently in the SADC region do not adequately match some viral variants endemic to the region (SADC 2010). Since cattle production in the region is not severely affected by FMD but the effects on trade, especially the export trade, can be devastating, it is evident that improved management of FMD is essential, while in the interests of biodiversity this needs to be achieved with no or minimum use of fences. The acceptance of appropriately processed de-­‐boned beef as a safe product would go a long way towards improving market access for farmers currently excluded from higher value markets (Paton et al. 2010, Thomson et al. 2009). The availability of efficacious vaccines and their proper use could provide the reassurance that is crucial for sustainable marketing of beef from the region. Vaccination is usually used to control outbreaks. Neither Botswana nor South Africa has resorted to stamping out (culling) to control the free zone outbreaks that occurred there in 2010/2011 in spite of the fact that it facilitates regaining free status in the shortest possible time. 1.4 Rabies Rabies is a fatal neurological disease that can affect all mammals caused by Lyssavirus 1 (family Rhabdoviridae). According to an editorial by Dr Bernard Vallat on the OIE website in September 2011 one person dies of rabies every 10 minutes. Rabies occurs worldwide although a number of countries, mainly islands and peninsulas, are free of the disease. The disease is present throughout the southern African region. Rabies virus is almost exclusively transmitted by the bites of diseased animals that excrete virus in their saliva before succumbing to the disease. The vast majority of people in southern Africa who die of rabies, as is the case throughout the world, acquire the infection from the bites of domestic dogs (Swanepoel 2004). 19