Deadly blue-tongue disease hits Narok livestock

NAROK, KENYA: Over a million sheep are at risk of contracting deadly blue tongue disease which has killed over 30,000 sheep since the beginning of the year in various parts of Narok.
This is according to county Veterinary officer Benard Njau who said the department has managed to contain the spread of the disease through mass vaccination.
According to the vet, some of the notable clinical signs of the disease are wounds in mouth, limping and salivation adding that over 60,000 sheep that were reported sick were treated.
He was speaking during a Kenya Food Security Steering Group meeting held in Narok town where he also mentioned that the county government highly subsidised the cost of the vaccines to the farmers.
Other livestock diseases in the county are lumpy skin, sheep and goat pox, black quarter, Trypanosomiasis and anthrax.
According to County Agriculture Chief Officer Christopher Nkukuu, the county has a Livestock population of 1.2million beef cattle, 300,000 dairy cows, 1.6 million sheep and 880,000 goats.
"This is an important economic resource for the county and contributes up to 10 per cent of the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In Narok, livestock farming involve mainly local breeds," said Nkukuu.
Last year alone, the county government spent over Sh100million to treat livestock diseases.