Zambia (Kaoma): Despite neighbouring districts recording anthrax cases, Kaoma District in Western Province has not recorded any so far, a move that has cheered farmers.
Kaoma District Veterinary Officer Mwiinga Lilanda confirmed the development to Media on Friday. He said the department has engaged a number of stakeholders in ensuring that any suspicious animal movement is reported.
Dr Lilanda revealed that the few suspected cases reported by farmers in some areas, when tested, were found to be tickborne disease and not anthrax.
However, he said that even though Kaoma is not a high-risk district, various measures, such as monitoring of animal movements and farmer sensitisation, have been put in place to prevent the outbreak of the disease.
“As a district, we have not yet recorded any anthrax case, and we are on the ground to ensure that our farmers are not affected by carrying out sensitisation and checkpoints at Tatayoyo,” Dr Lilanda said.
He has since appealed to farmers to help the veterinary department secure district brand marks for their animals for easy identification in case of illegal movement of suspected affected animals into the area.
Dr Lilanda further appealed to farmers to visit his office whenever they are faced with a challenge to seek professional advice.
One cattle farmer, Mark Yenga, commended the Department of Veterinary for being on the ground to ensure control of animal movements, which he said is a contributing factor to disease prevention.
Yenga assured the government of farmers’ support in maintaining the negative anthrax status in the district.
“We are also on the ground as farmers to look out for any suspicious movement of animals in our district because we don’t want our animals to be affected, ” he said.
Yenga also appealed to his fellow farmers to get district brand marks for their animals for easy identification.
According to the latest animal census conducted by the veterinary department, the cattle population in Kaoma district is 15,000.