Kwara govt to vaccinate 330,000 cattle, sheep, goats through L-PRES project
No fewer than 330,000 cattle, sheep, and goats have been scheduled for vaccination in the upcoming State-Wide Mass Anthrax Vaccination Campaign, the Kwara State Government has announced.
Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Mrs. Oloruntoyosi Thomas who stated this at a training workshop conducted by the Kwara State Livestock Productivity and Resilience Support Project (L-PRES) in collaboration with the State Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development for veterinary personnel on vaccination procedures held at the Ministry in ilorin, said the training is significant in achieving the State government’s aim in preventing anthrax and other zoonotic diseases in the State.
Represented by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Mrs. Funke Sokoya, the Commissioner, lauded the State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, for providing an enabling environment through prompt payment of the counterpart funds for L-PRES and other projects under the Ministry.
The Commissioner who disclosed that the state government had earlier received over 330,000 dozes of anthrax vaccines from L-PRES Project through the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security to ensure total eradication of anthrax disease in the country, charged the vaccinators to be professional by exercising caution and prioritise their safety while carrying out vaccination activities in view of the hazard involved in the field work.
In his remarks, the Director of Veterinary Services of the Ministry, Dr. Abdullateef Olugbon stated that the training is important due to the threat posed by the effect of anthrax to both the livestock and public health sector, while describing the upcoming State-Wide Mass Anthrax Campaign as a big step towards the realisation of a zero anthrax in the State and further tasked the vaccinators against contaminating the environment by ensuring that all the materials used during the exercise are properly disposed.
The State Project Coordinator, Mr. Olusoji Oyawoye said the training is to ensure seamless and efficient service delivery during the vaccination period, adding that the State is expected to vaccinate over 330,000 animals, such as Cattle, Sheep and Goats to protect them against the anthrax disease.
The Coordinator, represented by the Animal Health Officer of the L-PRES Project, Dr. Bukola Richards explained that the programme is in alignment with project development objective (PDO) on improved livestock productivity and resilience of selected value chains in the sector, adding that the exercise would cover all the sixteen Local Government Areas of the State.
Speaking on behalf of the participants, Dr. Timothy Gana, a private veterinarian surgeon and former State Chairman of the Nigerian Veterinary Medical Association (NVMA) thanked the L-PRES Project and the Kwara State Government for organising the training in preparation for the state-wide vaccination as a refresher to the would-be vaccinators.
