FG distributes 11m vaccine doses to combat livestock diseases

The federal government has distributed 3.9 million doses of the Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) vaccine and 7.7 million doses of the Newcastle Disease (ND) vaccine to rural communities in Plateau, Bauchi, and Kano states over the last five years.

 The effort was part of the Livestock Disease Surveillance Knowledge Integration (LIDISKI) project, funded by the European Union and launched in 2019.

 Dr Maryam Muhammad, Director and CEO of the National Veterinary Research Institute (NVRI), stated this at the project’s close-out meeting in Abuja.

 She noted that the vaccination efforts have helped curb disease spread and enhance animal health across targeted communities.

 “This project has therefore, expanded surveillance and early animal disease detection systems by developing 31 new tools, built capacity through an information system to support disease management, enhanced data collection and sharing, strengthened partnerships, and provided policy recommendations,” Dr. Muhammed said.

 The event gathered major project partners, including NVRI, CIRAD (French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development), IZSVe (Italian Health Authority and Research Organisation for Animal Health and Food Safety of Venezie), and Ikore, an international development organisation based in Nigeria, to discuss achievements and challenges faced over the past five years.