Dr. Emily Pieracci of the CDC told US News Outlet NPR that during 2020, the CDC discovered over 450 cases of dogs arriving to the US from certain countries with false vaccination certificates, prompting the agency to issue the emergency order.
The operation was allegedly masterminded by a Nigerian PR firm and a British nonprofit called Digital Good Governance for Africa that paid Nigerian Twitter trolls to tweet support for Alex Saab in an attempt to influence the judicial process in Cape Verde and broader public opinion.