January disease claims 100 more cattle

AT least 100 cattle have reportedly died in Ward 6 (Gora area), Kwaramba Village in Mhondoro-Mubaira, in the past three weeks due to Theileriosis or January disease, an official said yesterday.

Similarly, about 2000 cattle have died in the past two months in Bindura, Chegutu and Chivhu.

January disease is a tickborne disease common between December and March and is spread through the bite of the brown ear tick.

Ward 6 (Gora) councillor Mr Leornard Kwaramba yesterday confirmed the deaths.

“I can confirm that villagers lost cattle in my area and surroundings and the situation is still terrible as the recorded cases are increasing on a daily basis.

“About 42 cattle have been lost so far in my vicinity alone in the space of three weeks,” he said.

A villager, Mr Richard Gudo, said the situation was severe as more than 600 cases had been recorded in the area since January.

“The deadly disease has left us poorer at my homestead. l have lost about 10 cattle within a month while about 100 beasts have been lost in the whole village.

“We are also failing to secure vaccines to cure the deadly disease, so we plead for Government’s urgent intervention, lest we continue to fall prey of this disease,” he said.

Ministry of Lands, Agriculture and Rural Resettlement’s department of livestock and veterinary services director Dr Josphat Nyika recently said there were aware of the national outbreak of January disease and had deployed teams to assess the situation.

Dr Nyika said the dispatched teams were also educating farmers on preventive measures.

Signs of January disease include swelling of the lymph nodes under the ears and on the shoulder, cloudiness of the eyes, difficulty in breathing with froth from the nose and mouth.

The affected animal collapses and dies within a few days.