
Last week, I went to Rift Valley and made an interesting observation on the grazing behaviour of many livestock farmers. Due to the drought conditions and feed scarcity, they are allowing their cattle to feed near swamps.
As vets, we always advise as part of herd health that such areas if in a farm or a ranch should be fenced off to keep away cattle and thus control fasciolosis (infestation with flukes). But such caution is thrown out of the window during drought seasons when feed is scarce.
Swampy or stagnant waters are a habitat of many internal and external parasites, disease hosts and disease vectors.