January disease hits Masvingo

TATENDA CHIKARA IN MASVINGO

At least 4600 cattle in Masvingo Province have been affected by January disease, prompting the veterinary services department to enforce the compulsory dipping of cattle.

Provincial veterinary officer, Kudakwashe Makwangudze said the districts which were affected the most included Gutu, Zaka, Bikita and Chivi, among many others.

The number of cattle affected by January disease can reach up to 4600 while almost 2000 cattle died, he said.

Makwangudze said in trying to curb the spread of the disease they invented a new system of dipping, working with police to arrest those who moved cattle illegally or did not dip their cattle.

“We have a new dipping system where farmers  can dip their cattle three times per  two weeks with the intention to kill the ticks. We are also talking to traditional leaders on encouraging villagers to dip their cattle as well as working with police to make sure those moving cattle illegally are arrested. At  least 50 people were arrested for not dipping their cattle,” Makwangudze said.

Meanwhile, Makwangudze told Business Times that Masvingo Province has recorded several cases of rabies which resulted in one death in Chivi district. He urged people to vaccinate their dogs.

“This year we recorded cases of rabies in Bikita which recorded two cases including one human who was affected, Chivi had one case and one human death, Masvingo district had three cases including two human cases, Gutu one case and one  human case, Chiredzi one case and one human case.

“When an outbreak occurs we vaccinate cattle and dogs at the dip tank. In Masvingo we have six dip tanks which were affected this year and we vaccinated 4031 cattle, 20 goats and 802 dogs at no cost this time.