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Herald Reporters
More than 3 100 cattle have died from diseases in the 2013-14 summer season, the first round Crop and Livestock Assessment Report has revealed.
The report — compiled by the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development — shows that 1 570 cattle died of tick-borne diseases and 75 from anthrax. Lumpy skin killed 537 and 980 died from black leg.

Matabeleland South, Mashonaland West and Mashonaland Central had the highest cases of reported cattle deaths.
During the same period, 1 626 cases of foot and mouth were reported in Bikita, Chiredzi, Zaka and Chipinge.

“In 2013, the foot and mouth disease was mainly confined to the south-eastern districts of the country with isolated cases recorded in Umguza. These districts are still under quarantine,” reads the report.

Manicaland, Masvingo and Midlands provinces also experienced outbreaks.
Zimbabwe Farmers’ Union second vice president, responsible for livestock, Mr Abdul Nyathi said farmers should always dip their cattle and vaccinate them against diseases.

“Most animals succumb to tick- borne diseases especially in summer; the best way to curb animal death is for farmers to spray the cattle themselves since the veterinary services may have challenges with chemicals,” he said.

Department of Veterinary Services director Dr Josphat Nyika confirmed that sometimes they failed to vaccinate animals due to funding challenges.

He said wet weather encourages proliferation of biting flies some of which spread the lumpy skin disease virus.
“For tick-borne diseases, dipping programmes for animals should be followed strictly to avoid cattle dying. Dip chemicals are needed to maintain the tick control programme,” he said.

The national herd is currently at 5,2 million. Furthermore, a shortage of dipping chemicals is affecting control of livestock diseases.
Deputy director for Veterinary Services Dr Chenjerai Njagu told The Herald on Wednesday: “Our major constraint has been the shortage of dipping chemicals. Tick-borne diseases have increased and we are encouraging farmers with resources to spray their animals against ticks to avoid further livestock losses.”

An outbreak in livestock diseases such as anthrax, lumpy skin and black leg was reported in February when the country experienced incessant rains.