(ERGO) – Herders in Buhodle district of Togdheer region have welcomed the quick response of the Puntland authorities to an outbreak of disease among sheep and goats.
Some 3,500 heads of livestock have so far been treated since the livestock ministry mobilized veterinary teams to visit the affected areas on 4 March.
Ali Jama Hussein lost 260 animals, mostly sheep and some goats, to disease. His surviving 90 animals have received treatment, including injections of vitamins and antibiotics and medicine for parasites.
“Health is from Allah, but I hope this medicine will help and my livestock will recover from the diseases,” he said.
Radio Ergo reported on 1 March that some 2,000 heads of livestock had died from diseases in the remote areas of Buhodle over the past two months. Most of them died in Horufadhi, Dhilaalo, Xadhadhan, Banyaal, Sarmaan and Dandan villages in remote areas around Buhodle.
Listeners had called in to the radio complaining about the deaths of their livestock and the absence of treatment.
The director of the Ministry of Livestock of Puntland, Abdirahman Mohamed Jama, told Radio Ergo they had responded to the reports.
“We have listened to the report on Radio Ergo about the diseases that are killing livestock and we have also considered the complaints received from the pastoralists, and that is why were are carrying out this task,” the director said.
The director said the activity will run for 14 days, aiming to treat at total of 10,500 sheep and goats at a rate of 750 per day.
The ministry’s medical team has been conducting its examination and treatment activities at pastoralist meeting points such as wells where livestock is brought to be watered.
In Dhilaalo, 30 km north of Buhodle, Radio Ergo’s local reporter met with Hiis Mohamed, a nomadic pastoralist woman living in the area. She was watching ministry vets administering syrup and injecting her 70 goats.
“This week and last week, diseases claimed the lives of 30 goats of mine, including some which I used to get milk for my children,” she said. She hoped the remainder of the herd would survive.
