Pastoralists lose over 1,000 cows to disease in Taraba

Pastoralists in Taraba State have lost over 1,000 cows to a disease which broke out on the Mambilla Plateau in Sardauna LGA, the worst in the history of livestock production in the area.

Daily Trust gathered that the outbreak of hemorrhagic septicemia, a serious cattle disease, was first detected on July 10, this year in Dorofi, Mayo Ndaga, Kwarakwara, Leme, Tep, Labare and Furmi villages.

On the Mambilla Plateau, both the Fulani and other tribes are actively involved in livestock production. All pastoralists practice complete ranching there by restricting the movement of cows.

A pastoralist, Alhaji Abbas Yabuba, told Daily Trust that this was the second time pastoralists were losing a high number of cattle within a short period.

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He said, “This time, the outbreak in six areas is very devastating because one pastoralist lost about 80 cows and there are others that lost between 50 and 60.”

He said they got relief when a veterinary team from the state’s Ministry of Agriculture moved in quickly to treat and control the spread of the disease.

Another pastoralist, simply identified as Adamu, who estimated the loss to be over N3bn, said, “The unique nature of the Mambilla, with grasses and water all year round, provides uninterrupted supply of feed and water to the animals. While it’s a tsetse fly-free area, we practice complete ranching which gives the animals a good environment to grow.”

The Director of Veterinary Services in the Ministry of Agriculture, Dr Francis Nathan, told Daily Trust that it was a surveillance agent stationed in Gembu, headquarters of Sardauna LGA, that reported the outbreak to the ministry.

He said drugs and vaccines were bought from the National Veterinary Research Centre (NVRC), Vom, Plateau State, for the treatment and immunisation of the cows.

He explained that, “We quickly moved to the affected areas to start treatment of the affected animals. Over 500,000 cows were treated and vaccinated.”

He further said, “There is serious movement of cattle from the Cameroon Veterinary Research Centre to Sardauna LGA. It is the same on our side, and we cannot cross into Cameroon to vaccinate animals, but we ensure a halt to movement of cows in and out of our area to control the spread of diseases.”

Meanwhile, further findings revealed that despite the high population of livestock on the Mambilla Plateau, there is only one veterinary clinic and one veterinary doctor in Sardauna LGA which is estimated to have over two million cattle.