Garissa county, through the Agriculture and Livestock ministry, has launched a month-long mass vaccination campaign targeting at least 250,000 animals.
Livestock executive Mohamed Shale on Monday said 150,000 goat and sheep will be vaccinated against Contagious Caprine Pleuropneumonia (CCPP). More than 100,000 head of cattle will receive Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) and Contagious Bovine Pleuropneumonia (CBPP) jabs. They will cover Lagdera, Dadaab, Balambala, Fafi, Holugho and Ijara.
"Although the exercise has been planned for one month, we want to end it as soon as possible in order to cushion our livestock farmers against the devastating effects of these disease in case of outbreaks,” Shale said.
“If the teams conclude their exercise in their respective zones, it's our hope that they are going to reach more numbers in the neighbouring wards. This first round will cover 20 rural wards and in the second round we will cover the remaining 19."
Animals will also be dewormed and sprayed to control pest and ticks. Shale said the vaccination was occasioned by last year’s mass flooding that is normally associated with the fatal animal diseases. He spoke at the Agricultural Training Center (ATC) in Garissa town.
The exercise is also supported by the National Drought Management Authority (NDMA), Save the Children, the Kenya Resilient Project, Kenya Market System and the Kenya climate-smart Agriculture Project.
“The contribution of these partners before now and going forward is truly invaluable and is one that needs to be strengthened even more because, as a county, we can do very little by our own,” Shale said.
He urged the technical staff that will be involved in the drive to work closely with livestock farmers to achieve the maximum result.
“We don’t want to leave gaps because doing so would interfere with our planning and more seriously lead to loss of livestock. Livestock farmers should fully cooperate and present their animals in designated vaccination areas," he said.
Kenya Livestock Marketing Council chairman Dubat Amey lauded the county’s move to carry out the mass vaccination, noting that it will go a long way in ensuring their livestock are disease-free.
He said pastoralism is their economic mainstay, hence any slightest disease outbreak could lead to the closure of livestock markets and that would be devastating to residents.
"The livestock sector is a sensitive area. Any outbreak could lead to quarantine and closure of markets. Over 90 per cent of residents depend directly or indirectly on livestock. If we cannot sell or buy our livestock, then we are doomed," Amey said.
