. . . as national herd is still under threat

05 Jun, 2016 - 00:06 0 Views
. . . as national herd is still under threat The Government has restricted the movement of cattle across the country, in a bid to curb the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak - Picture by Kudakwashe Hunda

The Sunday Mail

Harmony Agere and Johannes Chitiki
Government has vaccinated two million cattle, almost half of the total number of the national herd, against foot-and-mouth disease since its outbreak in 2014, the Department of Livestock and Veterinary Services has revealed.
According to Dr Chenjerai Njagu, who is the acting director of the Division of Veterinary Services, 500 000 cattle have been vaccinated this year alone at a cost of around $5 million.
The Department of Livestock and Veterinary Services also revealed that although foot-and-mouth has been contained, the national situation is still critical as the disease has spread to at least six provinces namely Midlands, Matebeleland North, Matebeleland South, Masvingo Province and Manicaland. The disease has also been reported in some parts of Mashonaland West Province.
“It’s like putting a fire guard to a place where there is already a fire outbreak,” he said. “Currently we have vaccinated more than two million cattle, 500 000 having been vaccinated this year alone.
“With assistance from corporate partners and the Government, the department has used more than five million dollars this year alone to control the outbreak.”
Foot-and-mouth is the most lethal disease known to cattle and is believed to emanate from wild animals, particularly the buffalo.
Since 2001, it has combined with drought to deplete the national herd, currently estimated to be standing at around five million.
Furthermore, the disease also led to the loss of lucrative beef markets in the European Union and Middle East after the markets raised a red flag over the outbreak.
Nevertheless, to avoid the spread of the disease, Dr Njagu said the department was making efforts to decentralise the marketing of cattle to avoid congregating them at one place.
He echoed the statement made by Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Cde Paddy Zhanda, with regards to selling cattle within the area that they are produced.
The aim is to minimise the movement of stock from province to province.
Under these restrictions, cattle can only be moved within their districts for the purpose of slaughter.
In addition, moving cattle for fattening, marketing and auctioning is prohibited, such that abattoirs now have to go into farming areas to look for cattle.
Farmers are, however, not happy with the response to the foot-and-mouth outbreak.
They say the problem has been around for decades but without solid prevention and controlling measures being put in place.
Zimbabwe Farmers Union director, Mr Paul Zakariya, said the only way to effectively deal with foot and mouth is through banning unrestricted movement of cattle.
“This is the only effective way to deal with the problem, it’s true that business will be affected but we should not be selfish because illegal movement will affect the national herd,” he said.
“The problem is that as a nation we are not doing enough to fight this problem, we have known about it and where it comes from for a long time but we are letting it grow into a big problem when it is not.
“It’s basic, we should not let our animals into wildlife sanctuaries because this is where they are getting the disease.
“We know we experienced drought and we want to move our cattle into other provinces but we can harvest the grass now and transport it to affected areas.”
According to the Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Honourable Patrick Chinamasa, ending foot-and-mouth is key to reclaiming foreign markets.
To make this possible, he proposed in the 2016 National Budget statement, that quarantine zones should be instituted around infected areas to restrict movement of the disease into new areas.
He also proposed the ban on movement of cattle as well as exhibition of livestock at the country’s agriculture shows.
“Mr Speaker Sir, the above animal disease control measures are also pertinent to our eventual ability to access beef export markets, particularly the EU and Middle East markets, which rests on the progress we make with regards to animal disease surveillance and control,” he said. “Compliance with veterinary requirements and guidelines over livestock movements is also essential in this matter.”
Under the ZimAsset livestock production and development cluster, Government pledged to increase the national cattle herd and national meat production through strengthening livestock pest and diseases surveillance programme.
Experts say the foot-and-mouth disease is being caused by the increased mixing of wildlife and cattle, as cattle moved wider in search of water owing to the dry spells experienced during the season.
Research shows that foot-and-mouth is the most contagious disease in cattle. It is a trans-boundary animal disease caused by a virus and affects all hoofed animals.
It is highly infectious and spreads rapidly in cattle and pigs. Infected animals develop sores in the mouth, between the claws of the hoof (inter-digital space) and on the udder of lactating cows. Salivation and lameness are typical symptoms of infection.
The disease causes severe losses in reproduction, lactation, growth and draught power output and is catastrophic if it occurs in pigs or dairy animals as they have to be destroyed.

Share This:

Survey


We value your opinion! Take a moment to complete our survey

This will close in 20 seconds