BUJUMBURA July 8th (ABP) – The Ministry of Environment, Agriculture and Livestock has reassured stockbreeders in particular and the people in general that the government is at work to seek the necessary funds to organize the vaccination campaign against Rift Valley fever which broke out in Burundi for the first time in April 2022 in cattle, sheep and goats, as indicated by the Director General of Livestock, Mr. Serges Nkurunziza in a press briefing held on Wednesday July 6, 2022.
He indicated that towards the end of August, the vaccines will be available in order to start vaccination at the right time. According to him, a sum of one million 800 thousand US dollars was promised by the partners of Burundi such as IFAD which agreed to finance the program for one million 200 thousand US dollars, the FAO promised 500 thousand dollars, 100 miles for the WFP and 5 million BIF for the NGO Food for the hungry.
He appealed to breeders who would like to put together to buy the vaccine to leave this work to the ministry so that it is accomplished in full, given the virulence, the dangerousness and the particularity of the disease.
For the month of July, the technical services will go to the field to draw up the risk map, which is a prerequisite for properly guiding vaccination.
During the months of July and August, the ministry plans to continue raising awareness, training administrative officials, butchers and veterinary technicians in knowledge of the disease, biosecurity measures and good vaccination practices.
Mr. Nkurunziza wished to remind people that there is no problem in consuming well-boiled milk from a healthy cow, adding that breeders are conscious that they cannot milk a sick cow.
For the moment, he said, Rift Valley fever has already appeared in 13 provinces of the country, namely Ngozi, Kirundo, Muyinga, Karusi, Makamba, Cibitoke, Kayanza, Bujumbura, Muramvya, Mwaro, Rumonge, Bubanza and Gitega.
Of 966 cattle already affected by the disease, 413 died, while out of 627 small ruminants, 214 died, according to the general director of livestock.
Note that several measures have been taken to deal with this disease, in particular the temporary cessation of the movement of livestock, livestock markets, the slaughter of cattle and small ruminants.
In addition, epidemiological investigations were carried out in the field as well as the taking of samples. An action plan for the prevention and control of the disease has been developed and training sessions on the integrated management of this disease have been given by experts from the International Livestock Research Institute in Nairobi.