Busia district registers outbreak of tick borne disease

Busia, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | There is a confirmed outbreak of the tick-borne disease in Busia district. The disease has so far killed 35 Friesian cattle in the last one month. The most affected areas are Majanji, Busime, and Lunyo sub-counties where several cows have succumbed to the disease.

Dr. Patrick Barasa, the Busia District Veterinary Officer says that the disease is mostly killing Friesians distributed to farmers under the Operation Wealth Creation-OWC, and those that farmers bought on their own.

He attributes the outbreak to the bad communal grazing practices where farmers mix exotic cows with the local breeds. The local breeds are a little resistant to ticks. Dr. Barasa says that they confirmed the outbreak after conducting tests on the samples picked from the dead animals.

According to Barasa, they have a challenge of managing the disease because farmers are no longer spraying local animals yet they mix them up with exotic breeds. He says that the ticks are resistant to the available acaricides in the local markets due to misuse and poor mixture by the farmers. He says as a department, they have embarked on sensitizing farmers on the selection and proper mixture of acaricides.

Caroline Ajambo, one of the farmers in Busime sub-county who lost her Friesian received under OWC, says that when the cow was affected by the tick disease, it became so expensive for her to manage and it ended up dying.

Moses Oguttu, another farmer from Busime sub-county says that this is the second Friesian he is losing to tick disease. He is now embarking on rearing local breeds, which don’t need lots of attention.

Tick-borne diseases babesiosis, bovine anaplasmosis, East Coast fever and heartwater cause severe economic damage to livestock production. The diseases can be contained through immunization, treatment, and tick control.

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