The Department of Veterinary Services in Northern Province has successfully completed the vaccination of cattle against Contagious Bovine Pleuropneumonia (CBPP).
Provincial Veterinary Officer, Sydney Kalenga, disclosed that 22,172 cattle were vaccinated out of the targeted 22,540 animals.
Dr. Kalenga noted that the exercise has significantly improved animal health, with no cases of CBPP recorded in the province.
“So far we have completed our vaccination for CBPP, which we were vaccinating cattle with. And during our vaccination, we have also been looking at the health of animals in general just to appreciate whether our interventions are working or not,” Dr. Kalenga said.
He added that Mbala and Senga Hill have also not recorded any outbreaks of transboundary animal diseases.
Dr. Kalenga revealed that the department is now planning to vaccinate animals against Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD), having received 23,000 doses for the exercise.
“We have seen that since we started vaccinating against CBPP in Mbala and Senga Hill we have had no outbreaks of animal diseases, we are now planning for FMD vaccination; we were allocated 23,000 doses, and we are on track trying to plan so that we can start vaccinating as soon as we receive the consignment,” he explained.
He encouraged farmers to obtain brand marks for their animals to ensure easy identification and smooth running of the traceability system.
“We want to encourage our farmers to have their animals branded to obtain their own brand marks for their animals; going forward, we will not be able to allow animals to move without identity because we want to make sure that our traceability system works very well,” he said.
Dr. Kalenga emphasized that branding is part of the department’s broader disease control strategy.
