Kirinyaga County Government rolls out massive livestock vaccination drive against Lumpy Skin Disease

The County Government of Kirinyaga has rolled out a massive livestock vaccination drive against Lumpy Skin Disease.

The exercise that is being undertaken by the county’s veterinary department aims at immunizing the local livestock population and targets around 80,000 head of cattle.

It is part of an elaborate program by Governor Anne Waiguru to enhance livestock production especially in the dairy sector. Through Wezesha Kirinyaga program, dairy farmers in the county have benefitted from subsidized livestock feeds, Artificial Insemination (A.I.) services, livestock feeds production equipment, milk processing equipment, training as well as marketing opportunities.

The County Executive Committee Member (CECM) for Agriculture, Livestock, Veterinary and Fisheries, Dr. John Gachara, said that the ongoing vaccination campaign is the first cycle in the current financial year.

“We normally have two vaccination cycles in every financial year to ensure that we control livestock diseases and vectors. We had earlier on undertaken livestock disease control campaigns whereby we held about 60 farmers training barazas across the county.” Said the CECM, urging all farmers to ensure their animals are vaccinated during the one-month-long exercise expected to end on 16th November.

Gachara noted that the vaccination will not only safeguard the lives of the livestock but also the livelihoods of the farmers and the county’s economy.  He added that it’s also an opportunity for the farmers to be sensitized on herd management and best livestock care practices so that their animals can remain healthy and thriving.

Farmers who had their animals vaccinated during the door to door exercise expressed their gratitude to the County Government for highly subsidizing the vaccination saying that it has saved them a lot of money.

“I have had my 16 animals vaccinated for only Ksh. 100 per animal. Ordinarily I could have paid Ksh. 1,000 per animal to the private service providers. Out of the Ksh. 16,000 that I could have paid, I have only parted with a small fee of Ksh. 1,600 thereby saving a lot of money that I can put to other uses.” Said Rose Wambui, a farmer from Umbui village in Kutus. Her animals included nine cows and several dogs and cats. She said that her family was impressed by the deep commitment by the extension officers who regularly visit her farm to offer advice on livestock management enabling her to raise a healthy herd.

Besides saving money, the door to door exercise has also been welcomed by the farmers since they do not have to waste time taking their livestock to the public barns.

“Vaccinating animals within our farms saves us time and also reduces interaction of many herds thereby preventing transmission from sick animals to healthy ones.” observed Hillary Kamotoku after vaccination of his animals.

Margaret Thiguku, an elderly woman from Kirinyaga Central could also not hide her joy as her two dairy cows got the jab. She said that getting vaccines from private veterinary service providers was beyond the reach of many small scale farmers hailing the county government for subsidizing the exercise.

The County Head of Veterinary Services, Dr. Catherine Mulonzi, said that the vaccination exercise also targeted thousands of dogs and cats who are being immunized against rabies. She noted that lumpy skin disease is one of the endemic diseases in the county, hailing county government’s timely intervention.

According to World Organization for Animal Health, Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) is a highly infectious disease of cattle characterized by fever, nodules on the skin, mucous membranes and internal organs, emaciation, enlarged lymph nodes, oedema of the skin, and sometimes death. The disease also causes temporary reduction in milk production, temporary or permanent sterility in bulls, damages to hides and, occasionally leads to death.