To curb the spread of Foot and Mouth Disease ( FMD ) government has so far vaccinated over 33,000 herds of cattle in Kasengwa Town, Eastern Province.
District Livestock Coordinator Anthony Chupa says a total of 33,428 cattle were vaccinated against FMD in the second quarter of 2022 against the targeted number of 50,000, adding that the remainder will be jabbed once the vaccines are made available.
Mr Chupa adds that his office targets to vaccinate each cow at least twice annually to further mitigate the spread of the disease.
He disclosed this during the District Development Coordinating Committee (DDCC) meeting, the District Livestock Coordinator added that Although the FMD is a highly contagious disease, his has not yet received reports of fatality from the disease.
‘’We have a target of about 50 000 cattle and the remaining ones will be vaccinated once the vaccines are made available. FMD is a highly contagious disease hence spreading very fast but as a district, no death was officially reported to our department by the farmers’’ he said.
At the same meeting, Kasenengwa District Commissioner Rachael Phiri urged heads of government departments to supplement the efforts of the council in sensitising people on how they can access the Constituency Development Fund (CDF).
Ms Phiri mentioned that the Government has allocated more resources to the CDF but some intended beneficiaries lack knowledge on how they can access the funds.
She urged all departments in the district to closely work together and not in isolation if the area is to see meaningful development.
In Zambia, FMD was first reported in 1933 and sporadic outbreaks of the disease have been reported from three high-risk areas. These defined high-risk areas the Northern part of the country on the border with Tanzania namely Nakonde, Mbala and Mpulungu districts.
Secondly, the Kafue Flats on the border between Central and Southern provinces in areas such as Namwala, Mumbwa, Itezhi- tezhi and parts of Monze, Choma and Mazabuka districts and the Southern parts of Western and Southern Provinces (from Kazungula/Livingstone to a point beyond Sesheke district, where the border with Angola turns to the north-west).