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Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The government has finally delivered vaccines for the foot and mouth disease (FMD) in Karamoja.
At least 30,000 cattle have been vaccinated against Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) in Karamoja.
The outbreak was confirmed in November 2019, resulting into a livestock quarantine in Kotido, Abim and Kaabong districts.
After several months of waiting for vaccines, the government dispatched them this month to vaccinate the cattle across the three affected districts.
According to veterinary department in the three districts, the Ministry of Agriculture Animal Industry and Fisheries delivered 10,000 vaccines to each district.
Dr. Henry Mulondo, the Veterinary Officer for Kotido says they have vaccinated 9,800 cattle only from hot spots that include Panyangara, Nakapelimoru and Rengen sub counties. However, he says the vaccines were inadequate and they have requested for more vaccines to reach at least 70 percent target in in the district.
The Kaabong District Production Officer, Fredrick Eladu says they have vaccinated about 10,000 heads of cattle against the foot and mouth disease from the over 50,000 heads of cattle in the district.
In Abim, the Veterinary Officer, Oscar Burton Okengo also confirmed vaccination of 10,000 cattle but said many more had not been vaccinated.
The Kotido District Chairperson, Ambrose Lotukei confirmed that they have requested for more vaccines to cover the whole district.
Early this year, government in partnership with FAO vaccinated about 26 ,700 cattle against Contagious Bovine Pleuropneumonia (CBPP) in cattle and 19, 900 goats and sheep were vaccinated against Peste des petits ruminants (PPR), also known as ‘goat plague’, in Kotido alone.
Animal diseases are a common incidence among the herds of cattle in Karamoja and yearly, a lot of livestock die from different disease outbreaks.
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