The state through the Livestock department has put in place measures to eradicate deadly Peste Des Petits Ruminants (PPR) in the country by the year 2027.
Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS) in charge of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries Ms. Linah Jebii Kilimo said the country was losing approximately Sh. 1.5 billion annually to treat the disease that is highly contagious among livestock.
Ms. Kilimo observed that the disease that first broke out in the country in the year 2006 has been a thorn in the fresh to the farmers as it causes high number of deaths in small ruminants like sheep and goat.
“We have been implementing control measures to curb the spread of the disease in the country. The disease is pandemic as it has caused millions of deaths among livestock in Kenya,” she said.
The CAS spoke at Ngoswani area yesterday where she commissioned a livestock market built by the government through the Regional Pastoral Livelihoods Resilience Project (RPLRP).
She observed that research in other countries show that the disease can easily spread through wildlife hence the need to vaccinate livestock that border game reserves.
Ms. Kilimo added that the country was in the second stage of elimination and have done good progress so far that makes them feel that they will have finished the disease by the year 2027.
“Research in other countries shows that PPR mostly impact wildlife, so we came here to vaccinate the livestock because they border the Maasai Mara Game reserve,” she said.
She reported that they are partnering with the county governments and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to eradicate the disease in the country.
The CAS said, “I urge all county governments to allocate enough funds for vaccination against the disease. This is because if some counties do it and others fail, the disease will easily spread again making it difficult to be eradicated.”
Ms. Kilimo called on the locals to prioritize livestock vaccination in the public participation forums as livestock is their major livelihood source.
She was accompanied by Narok Governor Samuel Tunai, Livestock Principal Secretary Harry Kimutai, Food and Agriculture Organization representative (FAO) Carla Mukavi and Narok County Commissioner Evans Achoki.
Narok County Governor Samuel Tunai pledged to support the fight against the disease by allocating enough funding to the exercise.
by Ann Salaton
