(ERGO) – Authorities in Puntland have started a vaccination programme targeting three million goats. The campaign, which began on 13 July, will ensure the immunization of goats against Contagious Caprine Pleuropneumonia (CCPP).
It will continue for 45 days, according to Abdirahman Mohamed Haji, director of livestock health care at the livestock ministry.
Thirty six teams including veterinarians and other staff will visit every area with livestock in Puntland.
Mohamed Ali, who is leading the exercise in the rural areas of Dhahar district in Sanag region, told Radio Ergo they vaccinated 3,540 animals belonging to eight families in the first two days of the campaign. He said they were also treating goats for various tick-borne diseases.
Last September, Puntland vaccinated millions of livestock against pox diseases and measles. But herders complained that their goats had not been protected against CCPP, which was killing many animals.
Mohamed Abdullahi Omar, a pastoralist with 380 goats in Duldushi valley in Sanag, told Radio Ergo’s reporter in Garowe by phone that he lost eight goats. “Most of them died from ‘fiishka,’ an illness where the animals cough and mucus flows out of the nose,” he said.
The ministry confirmed that this campaign would prevent the spread of CCPP, although there was no official data on the number of goats killed by the disease. The vaccination comes at a time when the weather is colder and winds further the spread of animal diseases.
Madino Mohamed Saed, a resident of Uuskure valley in Nugal region, said she was pleased that her 150 goats were currently being treated.
The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) supports the campaign.
The ministry said the vaccination campaign would ensure there were many healthy animals ready for export sales to Saudi Arabia during the Muslim Hajj period in September.
