Abstract :Trans-Boundary Animal Diseases (TADs) as defined by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) are those diseases that are of significant economic, trade and/or food security importance for a considerable number of countries which can easily spread to other countries and reach epidemic proportions and where prevention, control/management including exclusion, requires cooperation between several countries. The list of TADs includes render pest, Contagious Bovine Pleuropneumonia (CBPP), Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD), African swine fever, newcastle disease, avian influenza, Rift Valley fever and lumpy skin disease. They have a multi-sector impact as they cause disease, suffering and death of animals. They grossly reduce productivity of livestock. Some of the TADs (e.g., Rift Valley fever, the H5N1 strain of avian influenza) may also cause disease, suffering and even death of humans. TADs constitute a major technical barrier to trade in livestock commodities. Foot-and-mouth disease is the most notorious such barrier and the countries where this disease occurs unchecked are excluded from international trade in livestock commodities. So, the persistent occurrence of FMD and other major TADs in many parts of Africa is a poverty entrapment for African livestock farmers.