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Forced cattle dipping looms

08 Oct, 2021 - 00:10 0 Views
Forced cattle dipping looms Four notorious tick-borne diseases —theileriosis, heart-water, babesiosis and anaplasmosis — are blamed for upto 65 percent of cattle diseases in the province

The ManicaPost

Samuel Kadungure
Senior Reporter

THE Department of Veterinary Services (DVS) will be coercing farmers into dipping their cattle judiciously, while punishing deviants who fail to comply with the aggressive bid aimed at controlling the spread of theileriosis, commonly referred to as January disease.

The tick-borne disease has wiped out thousands of cattle worth more than US$1 million in Manicaland.

Animal health experts who spoke to The Manica Post this week, said the situation can only return to normal if dipping is judiciously enforced, and adhered to.

From January 2021 to date, the DVS recorded 2 173 cattle deaths, amid indications that the majority of the cases were not being reported for unknown reason.

Coopers’ head of programmes and projects, Professor Joseph Kamuzhanje called for a change in farmers’ mindsets in order to preserve the national herd.

“Each livestock deaths must be followed by a post mortem, and this is how diseases are tracked. I do not know whether the system is able to do that. I am not sure if their system has the capacity to process a high number of livestock deaths,” said Professor Kamuzhanje.

He said rules and regulations of dipping must be judiciously enforced as was the case in the past.

“In the past, you were liable for failing to dip your cattle, but nowadays the law is not as strict. I don’t think it is being applied at all. The tick-borne diseases are still the same, but the difference is on how they are being managed.

‘‘In the past, the movement of animals was properly restricted, but nowadays a person can just relocate cattle from one point to the other. The regulation and policing aspects should be strengthened,” said Professor Kamuzhanje.

Manicaland Provincial Veterinary Officer, Dr Charles Guri said from next month (November), they will adopt a more radical approach in a bid to contain the disease prevalence.

He said the new approach was meant to eradicate smugness that has crept in farmers, especially those who refuse to avail their cattle for dipping, a practice that is punishable at law.

Dr Guri said the Animal Health Act, which was promulgated in 1960 criminalises deviant behaviour regarding dipping.

“In the past, people used to be force-marched to dip tanks. At independence, we adopted a different approach by taking proper veterinary extension services to the people, explaining the reasons, and importance of dipping cattle, hoping that the people will understand, and realise the benefits, but complacency crept in.

 

“What we are now experiencing are the consequences. From November, we will be punishing those who do not heed the call to avail their cattle for dipping. We will target those who violate animal cleansing regulations, and we will surely punish them.

“Offenders will pay prevailing gazette fines, while repeated offenders will be taken to court for prosecution,” said Dr Guri.
He said his department has capacity to conduct post mortems of dead animals to establish the cause of death, but in some cases they were not being notified of the deaths.

“It is not all animals that are subjected to post mortem. Only notifiable diseases are mandatory, the rest are at the discretion of the owner. The predicament we find ourselves in is that some farmers do not report livestock deaths out of fear that they will be prevented from salvaging meat from the sick or dead animals. We have enough personnel, 13 veterinary doctors, 30 supervisors, and 181 veterinary extension workers who can handle the situation in the province,” he said.

 

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