Massive vaccination set for 1m Garissa livestock

Saturday February 16, 2019

Garissa will vaccinate one million animals starting in April to prevent disease outbreaks.

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Agriculture executive Issa Yarrow on Friday urged the livestock farmers to ensure all their animals are vaccinated.

He spoke during the training of veterinary teams on vaccination and mass treatment programme at Farmers Training Center.

Veterinary Services director Dr Jackson Kinyua said vaccinations will cover five common diseases — Rift Valley Fever, pests de petits (PPR), sheep and goat pox, black quarter and anthrax. These can be contracted by camels as well as other livestock.

Yarrow said the department was already doing interventions and has positioned veterinary officers in all the six subcounties.

“We have bought enough drugs and facilities to test and treat these diseases in case of an outbreak. We will be pro-active than reactive,” Issa said.

He said 27 wards were targeted, including the far-flung grazing areas on the Kenya-Somali border that are considered to be insecure.

Thirteen teens have been set up and each will vaccinate 4,000 animals per day.

The county government is partnering with the Resilience Project, the Kenya Climate Smart Agriculture Project, FAO and the National Drought Management Authority.

Speaking separately, Kenya Livestock Marketing Council chairman Dubat Amey welcomed the inoculations and called for swift action.

“Livestock is the backbone of our economy. We should not wait for them to die,” he said.

Amey said that a good number of animals were already becoming emaciated due to drought. They could be too weak to withstand disease, he said.

Garissa and the rest of northern Kenya heavily rely on livestock as a major source of revenue. Hence the move is a key exercise for the county .

Beef, milk and hides are some of the direct products.

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