Farmers raise alarm as disease kills livestock

By WILBERFORCE NETYA

Pokot County: Livestock farmers in Kapchemukot location of West Pokot County have raised alarm over rapid spread of a disease they suspect to be goat’s plague, also known as peste des petits ruminants (PPR).

 Led by chief David Yarang’iro, the farmers appealed to the department of veterinary services to intervene and control the disease, which they said was spreading fast.

 “We have raised this complaint several times but nothing has been done to control the problem, which is quickly getting out of hand,” he said.

 The chief disclosed that he had personally lost 120 goats in less than a month.

 He approximated the number of livestock that have succumbed to the disease to be about 2,000 over the last two months and expressed fear that the disease might claim more animals if it was not controlled.

 Yarang’iro pointed out that he has been writing about the issue in his monthly reports since livestock farmers began to raise concern of symptoms of the disease, which eventually causes deaths.

 Explaining that the animals develop soar throat and others miscarry, Yarang’iro called for quick response to prevent further loss of the animals.

Cause of deaths

He said farmers are worried because they entirely depend on livestock for survival as they sell them to buy essentials yet they were losing them in large numbers each day.

 In response to the farmers’ cry, the department of veterinary services in Kapenguria said they had received the complaints.

 A veterinary officer confirmed that officers from the department were sampling animals to ascertain the cause of the deaths.

 “We are already on the ground to assess the magnitude of the problem and ascertain the cause of deaths but in the meantime, we can not rule out that it is Peste des Petits Ruminants,” said the officer.

 PPR is an infectious viral disease believed to have originated from West Africa and can kill numerous stocks within a short period.

 In June, the county veterinary officer James Merisya expressed optimism that the construction of a meat processing plant at Nasukuta, which is near completion, will help curb spread of infectious diseases transmitted as a result of movement of stock.