A cattle vaccination drive targeting over 277,559 cattle in two counties of Rumbek Central and Rumbek North County has kicked off Lakes State.
The vaccination campaign is being administered by the Lakes States Ministry of Animal Resources, Fisheries and Tourism with support from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (UNFAO).
Anthrax vaccine and contiguous bovine pleuropneumonia, Pestedespetit ruminants and contagious caprine pleuropneumonia, Newcastle disease and rabies vaccines are the vaccines that would be administered.
The event took place in Kaac cattle camp of Jiir Payam on Thursday. Vaccination will continue for 10 days.
The Director General of the Ministry of Animal Resources and Fisheries in Lakes State, Gabriel Makuac Aggrey said the vaccination was supposed to take place in January or February but due to lack of funding, it was delayed.
“We thank our partners for pushing to secure the funds until today. The next intervention includes PPR which is the next phase. We are going after this vaccination. We are going to sell out and make a plan with our partners”, he said.
The commissioner of Rumbek Central County, Dut Manak, emphasized the importance of maintaining a peaceful coexistence and encouraging youth to engage with partners for a better life.
The UNFAO head of field office in Lakes State, Mr. Sebaduka Hannington, expressed gratitude to the Norwegian government for funding the livestock vaccination campaign in Lakes State.
He stated that the program began in 2021 and has since been relaunched to ensure the good health of cattle in Rumbek Central and Rumbek North counties.
He said currently, the technical capacity of the livestock section is being built, with the training of 60 community health workers, 30 animal health workers in Rumbek Central County, and 30 in Rumbek North County.
Mr. Sebaduka stated that the next phase will focus on disease surveillance and proper fit management, as well as other development initiatives.
Rumbek central county has around 64-68 cattle camps, and the campaign aims to cover them.