30 Jul 2014

Government has decided to offer free newcastle disease (NCD) vaccination to all farmers in affected and at-risk areas in a bid to control the disease.

In a statement presented to Parliament on July 29, the Assistant Minister of Agriculture Mr Oreeditse Molebatsi said the vaccine was sourced from local private animal health practitioners and from suppliers abroad.

He told the house that there was an outbreak of the disease in many parts of the country. “Honorable members may have heard about the unusually high deaths of chickens particularly tswana chickens. Newcastle is a viral disease of birds and it is preventable by vaccination,” he said.

The Botswana Veterinary Association (BVA), an association of veterinary practitioners in Botswana has as part of their social responsibility initiative offered as a donation 100 000 doses of NCD vaccine to the ministry in a bid to curb the outbreak.

Mr Molebatsi said his ministry was sourcing the vaccine and would be sending information to all farmers to get in touch with the nearest veterinary officials for assistance.

“We appreciate the danger that this outbreak is posing particularly to small and resource poor farmers, some of whom have been assisted through various government programmes with chickens. We are determined to act expeditiously to save their chickens,” he added.

According to the minister the disease is endemic in Botswana where it circulated in backyard chickens as opposed to commercially reared ones as the former are not regularly vaccinated against disease.“Though it is endemic sporadic outbreaks do occur from time to time when conditions are favorable to the virus.

The current outbreak started in Kanye/ Jwaneng area in the southern district in June and it has spread to other five districts being South-East, Kweneng, Kgatleng, Central and the Northwest districts,” the minister said. The Assistant Minister explained that all cases involved only backyard chickens and there were not reported cases in commercial flocks.

He said as an intervention measure they have instituted a country wide movement standstill of all live poultry to limit the spread. He said this was coupled with aggressive information dissemination on the disease vaccination to poultry farmers. ENDS