The Veterinary department in Kakamega has issued a quarantine notice in Likuyani to control the spread of Anthrax disease which has been reported in the sub county.
Joseph Gathungu from the Directorate of Veterinary Services who is in charge of disease control said livestock movement will be restricted until the outbreak of the disease is contained.
Speaking at the Agricultural Society of Kenya (ASK) Kakamega Show, Gathungu said the Quarantine notice is one of the ways the department controls the spread of livestock diseases.
He noted that apart from quarantine notices, the department carries out vaccinations, and issues movement permit books to monitor movement of cattle from one county to another.
“We welcome other stakeholders to partner with us to control livestock disease. We thank the Food and Agriculture Organization and GIZ who have been of great support to us,” he noted.
This comes as the county government intensifies vaccinations of cattle against Anthrax, Black Quarter and Lumpy skin disease.
Available data from six Sub Counties of Shinyalu, Lurambi, Ikolomani, Khwisero, Butere and Matungu show that a total of 40,986 cattle, 1,895 goats and 1,416 sheep were vaccinated against the three disease during the 2022/2023 financial year.
From the five sub counties, a total of 13,983 farmers had their cattle vaccinated.
In April this year, The Kenya Veterinary Association marked World Veterinary Day in Kakamega by vaccinating 2,499 livestock.
The Chief Officer for Livestock and Veterinary Services Barak George Otieno said the veterinary Services directorate has a strong team that conducts disease surveillance.
“Through those surveillance programmes we have been able to detect outbreak of diseases and then through appropriate measures such as quarantine, we have been able to curb the spread of those diseases,” he noted.
He said once an outbreak has been detected, measures are usually put in place to restrict animal movement.
“The directorate is always very alert, any reports received are treated seriously and necessary measures taken,” he added.
Reporting by KNA
