The Veterinary Service Department (VSD) has urged farmers to intensify dipping cattle to fight January Disease (theileriosis) and other tick-borne diseases.
In a notice to farmers, VSD said it will be enforcing the Cattle Cleansing Regulations of 1993, which make dipping of cattle mandatory.
The Department said that cattle should be dipped at least once a week to control ticks and tick-borne diseases. It said:
<blockquote>
The rains are now upon us. Most parts of the country are receiving good rains to support cropping and pastures.
The good rains, however, bring with them an increased activity of ticks and resulting tick-borne diseases such as the notorious January disease.
In the past, the country has lost thousands of cattle due to January disease and other tick-borne diseases.
Cattle dipping remains the single most effective control measure against all ticks and tick-borne diseases.
By operation of the law, anyone who does not dip their cattle, or whose cattle are tick-infested, can be prosecuted.
</blockquote>
DVS also advised farmers to inspect cattle for ticks two to three days after dipping especially inside the ears, under the tail, on the udder and the tail brush.
Farmers were also advised to apply tick grease on these tick-feeding sites between dipping sessions.
Speaking to <a href="https://www.herald.co.zw/vet-department-urges-farmers-to-intensify-dipping/">The Herald</a>, the Acting Deputy Director of Veterinary Field Services Reverend Spargo said:
<blockquote>
Dipping is a critical measure in eliminating tick-borne diseases. The rainy season has always been associated with increased tick activity and an upsurge of tick-borne disease.
This has been a problem resulting in almost 500 000 cattle succumbing to the disease since 2017. We encourage farmers to dip cattle regularly.
</blockquote>
He added that farmers must get permits when moving livestock from one place to another.
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Pindula News

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 <a href="https://www.sundaymail.co.zw/january-disease-cases-decline">The Sunday Mail</a>, 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:
<blockquote>
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.
</blockquote>
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.
More: <a href="https://zero.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

January Disease Cases Decline By 60%

The Government intends to rehabilitate 800 dip tanks across the country and build 1 500 new dip tanks this year.
This was said by Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Permanent Secretary John Basera on Sunday while speaking at Venice in Mhondoro-Ngezi district during the official launch of the national war against the January Disease. The Herald quoted Basera as saying:
<blockquote>
If we win the war against January disease, we are guaranteed as a nation to meet Vision 2030 way back before the targeted year.
As we target to achieve this, we have put in place plans to rehabilitate dip tanks and build new dip tanks by June this year.
Currently, we have 4 000 dip tanks countrywide and 80 percent of these are functional.
The remaining 20 percent is targeted to be rehabilitated by June this year as we seriously intensify the fight again January Disease.
We want to increase our herd to six million from 5.4 million this year. This target can also be protected if we construct 1 500 new dip tanks countrywide.
</blockquote>
Tick-borne diseases, among them January Disease (theileriosis), have killed at least 500 000 cattle in Zimbabwe in the past five years.

Govt Says It Will Build 1 500 New Dip Tanks To Combat January Disease

Ten (10) cattle that were illegally moved from a farm in Banket to Chinhoyi were destroyed over the weekend by the Department of Veterinary Services (DVS).
DVS destroyed the livestock as part of efforts to fight the spread of January disease, also known as Theileriosis.
The cattle only had police clearance but had no veterinary movement permit.
Under the Animal Health Act, farmers and livestock dealers need veterinary clearance to move livestock.
Department of Veterinary Services director Dr Jairus Machakwa on Sunday told <a href="https://www.herald.co.zw/vet-department-destroys-10-cattle/">The Herald</a> that the illegal movement of cattle is undermining their efforts to combat January disease. He said:
<blockquote>
For any livestock to be moved, we need a veterinary movement permit which proves that the animals have been cleared by the department and that it is safe to move them to another area.
As you might know, we have declared war against January disease, but this is being deterred by those illegal movements of livestock.
Farmers should know that each cow should get a veterinary movement permit for it to be moved.
That helps us to ensure that we do not spread disease from one place to the next.
It also helps us when we are having outbreaks to quickly control the outbreak and lift any quarantines that we would have imposed for disease control.
The law will be applied in all cases where animals are moved illegally.
This loss of animals is avoidable and farmers need to comply with the Law to avoid the destruction of their animals.
</blockquote>
Theileriosis is common during the rainy season, that is, between December and March and is most prevalent in January hence the name January disease.
The disease is spread through the bite of an infected brown ear tick.

Vet Department Destroys 10 Cattle In Chinhoyi

More than half a million cattle worth US$150 million succumbed to theileriosis (January Disease) between 2018 and 2022.
This was said by Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Deputy Minister, Vangelis Haritatos, at the launch of a theileria vaccine pilot vaccination programme in Rusape’s Makoni district on Tuesday.
<blockquote>
He called on farmers to intensively dip their cattle to avoid the spread of tick-borne diseases. Said Haritatos:
More than 65% of cattle deaths in Zimbabwe are due to tick-borne diseases (TBDs), including theileriosis (January Disease).
More than 500 000 cattle valued at more than US$150 million died due to January Disease from 2018 to 2022.
So this pilot vaccination programme will be spread to all theileriosis-affected provinces targeting at least two of the most affected districts per province and two dip tanks from each of the selected districts.
</blockquote>
The Muzvezve MP said the country has produced 20 460 doses of theileria vaccines to curb the disease. He said:
<blockquote>
This means that Zimbabwe now has the ability to locally produce three vaccines out of four major TBDs, which will save a considerable amount of foreign currency. What remains is to scale up the production levels to a commercial level.
While dipping remains the most cost-effective method of controlling ticks and tick-borne diseases, there are many other ways of supplementing the dipping programme such as the use of tick-borne disease vaccines, tick grease application, the use of TBD vaccines, accaricide resistance monitoring, dip wash strength monitoring, spatial tick distribution, dip tank rehabilitation and construction of new dip-tanks and intensive dipping regime in January Disease hotspots.
</blockquote>
January disease has a fatality rate of up to 90% and is most common between December and March. | <a href="https://www.newsday.co.zw/local-news/article/200004704/january-disease-kills-500k-cattle-govt">NewsDay</a>

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