adminFungai Lupande
Mashonaland Central Bureau
Organised and orderly livestock marketing that had collapsed due to the death of over 500 000 cattle in the last five years due to January Disease and other tick-borne infections can now be revived as the build-up of effective dipping beats back tick-borne diseases.
Launching the war against January Disease at Kanyemba dip tank in Mazowe, chief director of veterinary services in the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Dr Josphat Nyika said companies like the CSC-Boustead Beef Zimbabwe, will start operations soon.
January Disease is now detected at 131 dip tanks out of 4 099 countrywide, while five districts in Mashonaland Central were hard hit by the disease.
Guruve and Mazowe districts are the hotspots in the province, but Mbire, Shamva and Rushinga are free of the disease. Dr Nyika said January Disease was a tick-borne disease spread by failure to adhere to the required frequency of dipping cattle.
He likened people who failed to dip their cattle to “sell-outs”, and called on traditional leaders to impose fines on those that did not comply with regulations. If all cattle in a district could be free of the disease, then there are no reservoir of infection.”If a villager who refuses to dip their cattle is fined a goat by the chief and made to pay US$30, eventually they will comply,” said Dr Nyika. “January Disease is one of the four tick-borne diseases, which has caused the death of over 500 000 cattle in the past five years. We will be able to attain food and nutritional security by safeguarding our livestock.
“The war against January Disease will be fought in many ways, including adhering to the dipping principles.”
Dipping principles include adhering to dipping frequency, correct strength and fully submerging cattle in plunge dip tanks.
Livestock is regarded as an investment, as it has cultural value, assists with draught power, and is also used as transport in rural areas.
January Disease has emerged as a threat to livestock in the past three years, wiping out the cattle holdings for some farmers.
Dr Nyika said Government availed adequate dipping chemicals, enough for the whole season.
“All cattle are supposed to be dipped weekly during this rainy season and where the disease has been detected, the frequency will be increased to 5-5-4 dipping method,” he said. “Under our traditional dipping system, no one should be barred from dipping. So let us all bring our cattle for dipping without fear.”
Last year, 44 dip tanks were rehabilitated in Mashonaland Central and this year’s target is another 35 dip tanks.
Dr Nyika said a plan was in place to construct new dip tanks for communities that lived away from existing dip tanks.
Abattoirs also joined the fight against January disease and are supporting the Government’s effort in promoting adherence to cattle dipping principles for quality meat for export and healthy meals.
The cattle coordinator for Koala Park, Mr Kezias Manguwe, said abattoirs and butcheries will close if January Disease wiped out all cattle.
He said Mashonaland Central, which has a cattle herd of about 450 000, was their biggest supplier of cattle for slaughter.
“We have come on the ground to support the war against January Disease because if cattle are wiped out, we don’t have a business and we will close down,” he said.
“We are fully behind the Government in fighting against all tick-borne diseases. We urge livestock farmers to adhere to good livestock production practices for quality meat.
“We also came to create a relationship with the farmer so that they can contact us directly and eliminate middlemen who rip them off.”
A farmer in the area, Mr Christopher Mutemaringa, said they sold their cattle for a song because of tick-borne diseases.
He said some farmers were using sprays instead of going to dip tanks, a development that was fuelling the spread of tick-borne diseases.
“We thank the Government for helping us in fighting tick-borne diseases. We applaud stern measures being implemented because we cannot caution each other due to fear,” he said.
“We end up losing as farmers because we cannot bargain for better prices due to the low weight of the cattle and we lose to an unscrupulous middleman.”
Mrs Farai Mubaira said she lost the whole herd of cattle to January Disease.
She said people were shunning dip tanks due to the false belief that they caused the spread of the disease.
“We used to spray our cattle and no one sent their cattle to dip tanks. The disease was rampant two years ago. I lost all my cattle and many people lost their cattle too,” she said.
“We thank the Government for availing information and tick grease. We now witness great improvement in eradicating the disease. We now need support in starting livestock production.”
Mashonaland Central Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution Monica Mavhunga said ticks accounted for 70 percent of cattle diseases.
Minister Mavhunga, who was represented by the Director of Provincial Coordination Mr Cosmas Chiringa, encouraged farmers to adhere to good dipping principles.
Online Reporter