The Sunday Mail
Theseus Shambare
AT least 1 200 cattle farmers who failed to comply with recommended dipping programmes have been arrested and prosecuted this year as the Government implements stringent measures to protect the national beef and dairy herd from tick-borne diseases.
According to the Department of Veterinary Services (DVS), tick-borne diseases are responsible for about 60 percent of annual losses in livestock, hampering national efforts to improve livestock production.
In 2018 alone, more than 50 000 cattle were lost to Theileriosis (January disease) and the country continues to lose thousands of cows annually to this disease as well as other ailments including anaplasmosis, heartwater and babesiosis.
The Communal Act of Zimbabwe stipulates that every communal farmer is bound by the Animal Health Act to take cattle for dipping and defiance leads to arrest and prosecution.
Of the 1 200 farmers arrested, Makoni District tops with 430 culprits.
The high number resulted in a high-powered delegation from the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development to visit Makoni last week to raise awareness on preventing cattle diseases. In an interview with The Sunday Mail, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Lands, Dr John Basera said most cattle deaths are primarily transmitted by ticks.
“Although January disease is common between December and March, due to more grass that would have grown due to late rains, ticks are more prevalent and the bite of the brown ear tick spreads swiftly.
“Awareness has been carried out for farmers to stick to our recommended dipping regimes but as always, we face challenges with some who decide not to comply.
As such, we opt to implement dictates of the law,” he said.
DVS chief director Dr Josphat Nyika said his department is carrying out awareness campaigns to equip farmers with sound animal health management skills.
“If a farmer absconds cattle dipping, it means they are irresponsible and that is the role of the law to realign them to expected good practices.
‘‘We do not just arrest farmers without following proper procedure. We start by making sure that knowledge is spread to them. If they violate laid down dictates, we engage police.”
He said since authorities started to implement the strict dipping regime, cattle diseases have gone down.
The Government launched the Presidential Blitz Tick Grease Scheme on November 20, 2020 under the Livestock Growth Plan as a stop-gap measure to augment the fight against tick-borne diseases.
To date, more than 1 million farmers have received 1kg packs of tick grease for free while the Government is in the process of rehabilitating 2 000 dip tanks countrywide. Signs and symptoms of an animal affected by January disease include swelling of lymph nodes under the ears and on the shoulder, cloudiness of the eyes, difficulty in breathing, with froth from the nose and mouth.
The affected animal collapses and dies within a few days.
January disease is a notifiable disease in Zimbabwe, which means affected farmers are compelled to report to the DVS.
