Yobe Govt. targets 1.8m livestock for vaccination

The Yobe Government says it has targeted 1.8 million livestock for mass vaccination against Trans- boundary diseases.

Dr Mustapha Geidam, Programme Manager of the state’s Livestock Development Programme disclosed this on Wednesday in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Damaturu.

Geidam said the livestock would be vaccinated across the 17 Local Government Areas (LGAs) of the state.

He said cattle lumpy skin disease has been reported in Bursari LGA with sporadic cases of Contagious Bovine Pluro Pneumonia (CBPP) and Pest Petit Ruminants (PPR) in almost all parts of the state.

“The programme has so far contained the lumpy skin disease but will require urgent mass vaccination of animals to check possible spread.

“There is an urgent need to procure vaccine from the National Veterinary Research Institute (NVRI) Vom for the mass livestock vaccination across the state.

“This is to guard against mass mortality in the animals and huge economic loss as well as, to prevent people from consuming sick animals,” he said.

He said that the state has huge livestock that can be exploited to improve its economic fortunes.

“The agricultural revitalisation programme of the state government is a great opportunity at the right time to improve livestock production in the state,” he said.