Chronicle Editor
Rutendo Nyeve, Sunday News Reporter
MORE than 5 000 cattle have succumbed to the theileriosis disease, also known as January disease, in Matabeleland South over the past three years with efforts being made to contain it and ensure the national herd is protected, the province’s veterinary director Dr Enat Mdlongwa has said.
Dr Mdlongwa said this during an effective livestock disease management conference which was hosted by the Sunday News at a local hotel on Friday. The conference was held under the theme: ‘Reviving the livestock sector for vision 2030: tackling the theileriosis (January) disease’.
Dr Mdlongwa said out of the seven districts in Matabeleland South, three districts were affected by January disease and these were Insiza, Umzingwane and Bulilima with Insiza district being the worst affected.
“In the last three years, the province has recorded 7 500 cases of January disease and out of these, 3 764 were recorded in Insiza A1 farms while 1 508 were recorded on the A2 farms. Seventeen were recorded from farms. In Umzinganwe district 1 985 cases were recorded in A1 farms while in Bulilima A2 farms and plots, 226 cases were recorded. Cumulatively, Insiza has so far recorded 3 077 deaths, Umzinganwe 1 765 and Bulilima 178 deaths,” said Dr Mdlongwa.
He said the disease was first diagnosed in 2021 in Insiza and spread to neighbouring areas which were equally reluctant in dipping their cattle.
“The disease was first diagnosed at Lancaster Farm in Insiza district in 2021. Lancaster Farm is divided into plots and there are various farmers within the farm. Farmers had different perceptions concerning dipping and most farmers were reluctant when it came to cattle dipping. The most common method of tick control used at Lancaster was spraying cattle with a knapsack sprayer,” said Dr Mdlongwa.
He said the use of a knapsack sprayer was not an effective method of controlling ticks especially large herds of cattle, as the user might get tired and fail to fully cover the animal’s body with the dipping chemical, unless if one is using a battery powered sprayer.
“This resulted in loss of large numbers of cattle (1 508 cattle) in Lancaster. Due to illegal livestock movement, the disease was discovered in Gwatemba, Mazhabazha dip tank and lack of boundary fences led to the spread of theileriosis throughout Gwatemba plots to neighbouring communal and A1 areas of Insiza North,” said Dr Mdlongwa.
He said an area called PBS got the infection from Lancaster and the farmers were reluctant to take in their cattle for plunge dipping.
He added that the disease easily spilled over to Umzingwane district, because Lancaster farm was at the boundary of Insiza and Umzingwane and cattle would mix at water points and in grazing areas.
The senior vet officer said the Government through the department of veterinary services was putting in place various interventions that include increased supply of acaricide, enforcement of the 5-5-4 dipping regime, blitz tick grease distribution and trainings on application, awareness campaigns (launch of war against January disease), quarantine of affected areas, rehabilitation of dip tanks in both communal and commercial sectors as well as encouraging farmers to install spray races.
“The province received 11 088 doses of theileria vaccine and Matabeleland South staff members were recently trained on the vaccine administration which was held at Matopos Research Station where 30 cattle were vaccinated and responded well to the vaccine. We have vaccinated more than 1500 cattle in Insiza district and the programme will continue once we receive all the vaccines. Owing to all the above mentioned interventions and low tick population in the few past months, cases have declined but however, a recent monitoring of dipping sessions showed that farmers were getting reluctant to dip their cattle as per requirement.”
He said the reluctance by some farmers was forcing the Government to enforce the Animal Health Act (Cattle Cleansing) regulations of 1993 through prosecuting those who do not comply,” said DrMdlongwa.
@nyeve14
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