January Disease Cases Decline By 60%
Cases of January Disease, also known as theileriosis, have declined by more than 60 percent over the past three years.
According to the first quarter assessment report released by the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development recently, January disease-related deaths fell by 61.8 percent in the first quarter of 2023, compared to the same period in 2020.
Speaking to The Sunday Mail, Veterinary Services Department (VSD) chief director Josphat Nyika, said:
The country lost 3 583 cattle to January Disease in the first quarter of 2023, compared to 9 382 cattle lost during the same period in 2020, which is our recent worst year.
It is in 2022 that notable improvement started to be felt after operationalising various programmes.
We lost 4 297 cattle during the same period.
Nyika said the dipping of cattle remains the most effective way to control tick-borne diseases. He said:
In January disease-outbreak areas, cattle are dipped three times in two weeks following the 5-5-4-day dipping interval to break the cycle of disease transmission; and even in the winter period, theileriosis hotspots continue on weekly dipping to prevent the build-up of brown-ear tick larval and nymphal stages responsible for winter outbreaks.
Theileriosis is a group of tick-borne diseases caused by protozoan parasites of the Theileria genus. The symptoms of January Disease include fever, loss of appetite, weight loss, weakness, anemia, enlarged lymph nodes, difficulty breathing, jaundice, swelling of the lower limbs, and decreased milk production in dairy cows.
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