The Sunday News
A story about the Department of Veterinary Services (DVS) finding a breakthrough with regards to Theileriosis (January disease) made for major news during the week.
It was carried in some of the national newspapers and repeated on several social media platforms. It was reported that DVS had made a breakthrough in the production of a vaccine for the control of the deadly Theileriosis disease.
This pen could not verify with the DVS. However, it is important to applaud this milestone in the fight against the most lethal tickborne disease that has wiped herds and left many poor after taking away their life savings.
Image taken from www.dlvs.gov.zw
This disease has in the past four or so years wreaked havoc in some parts of Mashonaland and parts of Manicaland.
Some grazing lands are literally uninhabited at the moment with all the cattle cleaned off by the disease.
Some families are still dealing with the trauma of losing their livelong investment to this disease.
The disease has also been spreading from its traditional geography to some new areas, with some cases being reported in Insiza District of Matabeleland South, in recent times.
The reasons for the spread of the disease from where it was generally endemic to other new areas could be attributed to two main factors, which are climate change and collapse of some of the veterinary control systems over the years.
Climate change could probably be contributing to the disease moving from the traditionally high rainfall areas of agro-ecological Region Two, to more drier areas in Region Five.
This means that possibly with changes in climatic conditions the vectors that transmit this disease have now adjusted to harsher conditions and can now subsist even in drier areas.
These are issues for further research by scholars and hence my supposition here should not be taken as authority. Reckless movement of animals across geographical boundaries due to inadequacies and incapacitation of DVS has also seriously contributed to the migration of the disease to other areas.
It is therefore perfectly understandable from a farmer’s point of view, the excitement that has gripped the livestock farming community following the break of this vaccine story.
This pen wishes DVS tremendous success with trials that will obviously follow the production of the vaccine.
The success of the trials will mean that the vaccine can now be rolled out en masse to protect the national herd which is seriously threatened by this deadly disease.
Even those areas that had given up on keeping cattle, can now resume under the protection of the vaccine.
Vaccination is a practice that most smaller farmers adopt with reluctance but I am very confident that because of the devastating nature of January disease, no farmer will need so much as persuasion to vaccinate his/her animals.
Image taken from the herald.co.zw
This disease traumatised farmers, dear reader because it is has extremely high mortality rates despite farmers’ efforts of purchasing and using expensive drugs.
A few farmers managed to save their animals, with others adopting unorthodox treatment means.
No one could explain why the drugs bought at very high prices from veterinary shops and administered even on time could hardly treat and save the animals despite some of the drugs coming highly recommended by the manufacturer.
A lot of drugs with different trade names some of them from very reputable drug companies in the country were tried by farmers with limited success, casting doubt on most of the drugs.
It is against this background that the coming in of the vaccine will be most welcome by all and sundry with interest in the livestock sector.
We call upon funding agencies and development partners that have interest in the livestock value chains to provide DVS with the resources that it may so need to roll out trials on the vaccine and possibly production of more doses of the vaccine.
We are fully aware that this could be an expensive exercise that the department may not be able to carry on its own. Let all those that have love and interest in the livestock sector provide support as much as possible so that positive results can be realised from this noble effort by DVS.
Uyabonga umntaka MaKhumalo.
Mhlupheki Dube is a livestock specialist and farmer. He writes in his own capacity. Feedback [email protected] cell 0772851275
