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Precious Manomano Herald Reporter

It is important for farmers to intensify dipping of their livestock and follow the required intervals, especially during the rainy season to prevent the spread of tick-borne diseases since livestock is key to rural development, chief director in the Department of Veterinary Services, Dr Josphat Nyika, has said.

Dipping also controls other vectors like tsetse flies and other biting flies.

This comes as tick-borne diseases are almost under control as a result of intensive dipping and the Presidential Tick Grease blitz that saw over 2 million kg of tick grease distributed to stock owners countrywide.

Experts say regular dipping helps to intensify the killing of nymphs before they grow into adults and ensures that animals are totally soaked for best results.

During the rainy season, the Department of Veterinary Services encourages farmers to adopt the 5-4-4 dipping regime, where a farmer is expected to dip cattle after 5 days then after 4 days followed by another four-day interval.

After the dipping sessions, farmers should also apply tick grease to body parts that are not easily accessed by the dipping chemicals.

Statistics from the vet department show that over 500 000 cattle valued at US$150 million have succumbed to tick-borne diseases from 2017 up to now. Last year, January disease, also known as Theileriosis, accounted for more than 60 percent of all cattle deaths due to tick-borne diseases.

Recently, the Government launched the pilot January disease vaccination programme where thousands of cattle would be vaccinated in hotspots across the country.

Speaking during the launch of the Theileria (Bolvac) vaccine pilot vaccination programme at Svikiro Diptank in Makoni District, Dr Nyika urged farmers to act responsibly and complement Government’s efforts towards eradicating tick-borne diseases.

“These diseases are strongly controlled by dipping. We gave farmers over 2 million kg of the Presidential Tick Grease programme over the last two years,” he said.

“We are doing a lot in reducing tick-borne diseases, including repairing dip tanks and construction (of some). We are also celebrating a milestone in producing a vaccine for January disease to prevent cattle deaths. We have adequate chemicals in stock,” he said.

To date, the Vet Department has produced 20 460 doses of the Theileriosis vaccine and 96 000 more doses are expected this week, all in an effort to fight tick-borne diseases to boost livestock production.