Nwoya District Receives 5000 Doses Of FMD Vaccines
NWOYA – Nwoya district production department has received 5000 doses of the Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) vaccines from the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries.
The disease which mostly affects cloven hoofed animals including buffaloes, cattle, sheep, goats among others was first confirmed in Atwomo village, Patira parish, Purongo Sub County before further spreading to Todora village in Anaka Sub County and later in Nyamukino and Bidati villages in Lungulu and Anaka Town Council respectively.
It has so far left 18 cows, mostly calves dead, and at least 323 having contracted the disease.
Emmanuel Okwir, the Nwoya district Veterinary and Production’s Officer says the doses were given to the district on Friday last week following a requisition placed a month ago.
Okwir says that the delay in supply of the vaccines was because the vaccine was not available given the outbreak of the disease which has also hit other parts of the country.
Okwir says that the vaccination exercise will be launched next week targeting the areas worst hit by FMD.
“We are not going to vaccinate all the cows in the district. We will only target the villages that are the most affected by foot and mouth disease (FMD).”
https://thecooperator.news/nwoya-under-attack-by-the-foot-and-mouth-disease/
Recently, Frank Tumwebaze, the Minister of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries ordered a quarantine, banning the movement of animals at risk from within and around the districts in a bid to prevent the spread of FMD.
Jacob Lony Ocen, a resident of Akwongo village, Patira parish, Purongo Sub County says that he lost two of his calves to the disease.
Ocen says that efforts to try and get the vaccines were futile because most of the veterinary shops in Purongo and Anaka Town council didn’t have them in stock.
“When I tried to buy the vaccines locally from the veterinary shops here in Purongo and even Anaka, I failed because none of them had it.”
Stephen Ojok, a resident of Bidati village in Anaka Town Council says three of his cows have contracted the disease and when he attempted to buy vaccines in Gulu City, he was charged shs 200,000 for what used to cost him shs120,000.
Okwir, says that he has received several calls from farmers complaining about the high prices of the vaccines coupled with the distance they have to travel to access them.
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