The ManicaPost
Samuel Kadungure
Senior Reporter
MANICALAND has lost about 1 000 cattle to tick-borne diseases in the first three months of the year, thereby forcing Government to step-up efforts to protect the provincial herd.
Manicaland Provincial Veterinary Officer (PVO), Dr Charles Guri said Government has declared war against tick-borne diseases due to an increase in incidences and livestock deaths across the country.
Last year, Theileriosis, decimated about 3 000 cattle worth over US$1 million in the province.
This saw communal farmers accruing huge losses as they either watched helplessly as their cattle died or panicked and sold the remaining beasts for a song.
January disease, which is caused by irregular dipping, has turned out to be the biggest problem in communal areas across the province; wreaking havoc even outside the usual peak rainy season. Communal areas in the province have about 633 000 cattle which are served by 542 communal dip tanks of various carrying capacities.
Severe shortages of dipping chemicals over the past years resulted in serious disruptions to the communal dipping programme, with cattle going for more than two months without dipping, consequently increasing the prevalence of tick-borne diseases.
The sad development prompted swift Government intervention to resuscitate communal dipping, avail chemicals and ensure that cattle are dipped weekly to prevent the disease.
Speaking in an interview with Post Business on the sidelines of a mixed farming (livestock rearing and crop) field day at Good Hope Farm in Headlands last week on Friday, Dr Guri said there is no relenting in the fight against tick-borne diseases.
“We recorded a tick-borne diseases surge in February and March due to the incessant rains in the province. Our highest in February was 242 cases per week, followed by 245 cases per week in March,” said Dr Guri.
“At the moment, from the peak of 245 cases, we are recording about 40 cases per week, which shows that we are winning the war. As a province, we have lost close to a thousand cattle due to tick-borne diseases between January and March 2023,” he said.
Dr Guri said reports on any suspicion, sick or dead cattle must be made immediately. He also said all cattle must be inspected by the Department of Veterinary Services. He encouraged the correct application of supplementary dipping as well as hand dress on ears, under tails, tail brush, around the udder, groan and between hooves.
Early treatment of sick cattle and prophlylaxis of the remaining herd is also encouraged.
Dr Guri said Government is also distributing tick grease to farmers under the Presidential Livestock Inputs.
“We are winning the war as a province, and what actually happened is that we had a repeat of Tropical Storm Freddy in the first week of March, and usually when there is incessant rains, we do not dip cattle because the chemical gets washed away.
“So after two weeks of non-dipping, we started to see cases beginning to rise. However, it is now flattening because the rains have cleared and the tick situation is under control,” said Dr Guri.
Chief Director (Agriculture Advisory Services), Professor Obert Jiri said January disease needs to be controlled.
“It is transmitted by brown ear ticks so our farmers need to have a variety of control measures such as spray race, tick greasing, and pour-on, which they need to apply regularly.
“In the communal areas we encourage the 5-5-4 dipping regime so that we avoid the build-up of the brown ear ticks and also make sure that we are on top of the situation in terms of January disease.
“Controlling diseases is important so that we grow our livestock herd. If we do not control these diseases, including the causal agents, we cannot then be proud of the 5,6 million herd of cattle that we have as a country,” said Prof Jiri.
Professor Jiri said the livestock sector is worth over US$3 billion. Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services (ZPCS) Commissioner-General Moses Chihobvu owns the 70-hectare Good Hope Farm, with 105 cattle and 18 hectares of maize.
Commissioner General Chihobvu started off with 10 cattle and the herd increased gradually to 105.
“Since the January disease was reported, we did not encounter any deaths here. Some of them got sick, but we managed to cure them and they are still alive,’ he said.
