Western province massive vaccination of cattle to kick off-Chikote

Government will this month embark on massive vaccination of cattle against combined bovine plural pneumonia (CBPP) in Western province.

Minister of Fisheries and Livestock, Makoze Chikote says contrary to the earlier strategy of ‘test and slaughter’ government has decided to vaccinate all the animals including those which might be infected with CBPP.

” It will be up to an individual farmer to decide whether to vaccinate infected  animals or not after all they eventually  die,” Mr Chikote said.

The Minister revealed this when he called on Western Province Permanent Secretary, Simomo Akapelwa at his office in Mongu today.

Mr Chikote said he was in the province to give an update to farmers on CBPP.

” We are here to inform farmers on the new changes of CBPP strategies. Earlier government had decided to conduct slaughter  and kill but after a review government has decided to go for test and vaccinate,” he added.

Mr Chikote said that a team in the ministry was already setting-out a plan on how best the vaccination would be done to ensure that all the animals  are vaccinated in the province.

“All the animals in the cordon line  will be tested  and vaccinated to protect surviving animals and boost the animal population in the province”, he said.

Mr Chikote was, however,  quick to state that government has decided to do away with the idea of compensating the farmers for the loss of their animals since government will not slaughter the animals.

He said government was grateful to Baroste Royal  Establishment (BRE) who welcomed the new approach to the fight against  CBPP in the province.

“I met the traditional  leadership in Lealui and they have welcomed our plan to test and vaccinate the animals”, he said.

And Mr Akapelwa thanked the Minister for taking an initiative to sensitise the farmers on the changes on local radio stations.

He said the sensitisation aspect on the approaches to the fight against  animal diseases was critical to avoid farmers frustrating government programmes as a result of lack of adequate sensitisation.

He appealed to the Minister to also tackle the issue of contagious abortions which he said was highly prevalent in the province.

Western province is endowed with massive potential for the development of the livestock industry but the continued disease  burden has continued to affect the growth  of the industry hence government’s resolve to fight animal diseases such CBPP.