The Turkana County Veterinary Services Department has stepped up vaccination and support treatment exercises for livestock following reports of a surge in livestock diseases in Turkana North and Kibish Sub-Counties.
According to the County Chief Officer for Livestock Development, Dr. Ezekiel Etelej, the surge was reported by technical teams and Community Disease Reporters (CDRs) after conducting routine animal surveys and collecting reports from local livestock keepers, prompting the intervention.
“The region has experienced a rise in cases of Lumpy Skin Disease in cattle, as well as Sheep and Goat pox, and contagious bovine and caprine pleuropneumonia, thus necessitating this intervention,” said Dr. Etelej.
The exercise, jointly supported by VSF Germany and World Relief International, has so far seen 1,993 cattle and 11,607 shoats vaccinated, covering 122 households in areas of Kokuro, Meyan, Liwan, Merikuka, and Nasekona.
County Director of Veterinary Services, Dr. Benson Longor, noted that the Kenya-Ethiopia border areas of Liwan and Natodomeri were also affected.
The Director emphasized the need to collaborate with their Ethiopian counterparts to conduct livestock vaccination and treatment in line with the existing IGAD information-sharing protocol for cross-border livestock disease control.
This, he said, will help curb the spread of the highly contagious diseases that may easily lead to trans boundary disease outbreaks.
By Peter Gitonga
