CIBITOKI/KARUSI/BURURI November 16th (ABP) – The vaccination campaign against the plague of small ruminants started on Monday across the country. It was the Minister of the Environment, Agriculture and Livestock, Mr. Sanctus Niragira, who launched this activity in Cibitoke province, on the site of Ndava village, in Buganda commune, a check on the site by ABP has revealed.
On that site at least 1960 goats and 10 sheep have been vaccinated, according to veterinary officials on site. The same sources that at least 15,000 animals are expected during that vaccination campaign, which will last two weeks.
For the minister in charge of agriculture and livestock, the plague of small ruminants is a dangerous disease that is difficult to treat, and the only way to eradicate it remains vaccination, which is being organized for the 4th time in Burundi.
He said that the activity of that two-week vaccination campaign will take place at different sites, where farmers must bring their animals aged three months and older to the veterinarians or animal health officers waiting for them for vaccination.
Minister Niragira appealed to the people to respond to that activity of great importance, in order to eradicate this most contagious disease. He did not forget to point out that in 2017, PPR appeared in several provinces, and left more than 6000 stockbreeders in desolation.
In Karusi province, that campaign also started on Monday, November 14 in all municipalities and is going well, according to Simon Bisabwa, head of the livestock component at the Provincial Office for the Environment, Agriculture and Livestock, BPEAE, in Karusi province.
A global workforce of about 30,000 goats and 2,360 sheep is expected throughout the province, according to the same source. The ministry in charge has taken all the strategies for total success, he says.
Raising awareness among herders has been effective through local government, religious denominations and market guards, he said. That campaign is the fourth in the province with the aim of eradicating the plague of small ruminants, a contagious and deadly viral disease within a period of at most ten days, according to him.
In Mutumba commune, at the Rabiro vaccination site, 695 goats and 11 sheep were vaccinated on the first day of the campaign, a check on the site by ABP has revealed.
In the province of Bururi, the person in charge of the breeding service at the provincial office of the environment, agriculture and breeding, Mr. Clément Nkeshimana indicated that the campaign is going well in these first days but that the breeders are coming slowly. He asks the administrative staff at the base to sensitize the breeders. The abundant rains almost every day would be the reason for the small number of small ruminants already vaccinated, according to Nkeshimana. He hopes that over time they will come, adding that necessary strategies will be adapted to vaccinate as many as possible during the twelve days.
Note that in Bururi province nearly 80,000 goats and 42,000 sheep are expected to be vaccinated.