Kenya raises alarm over foot, mouth disease outbreak
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nyaga however blamed the control of disease to uncontrolled livestock movements due to drought cattle rustling and roadside grazing1 xinhuanankenya on wednesday issued an alert on mouth and foot disease across the country to help curb its spread1 the disease was detected in the country in 2017 where it spread into 26 counties and has continued to date nyaga said in a statement1 he directed all livestock traders to obtain a livestock permit from the local veterinary offices before moving the livestock1 nyaga noted that the presence of the disease hinders local and international trade and movement of livestock1 the disease is characterised by sores and wounds in the mouth and feet causing salivation and lameness that results into heavy losses in milk production body condition and death especially in young livestock1 the disease does not have a cure but sick livestock are managed through good feeding and care and treatment of wounds1 obadiah nyaga the director of veterinary services in the ministry of agriculture urged kenyans to report the outbreak of the contagious viral infection immediately to the nearest veterinary office for action1 very low vaccination converges has left majority of livestock susceptible to disease given that there is 60 million cattle sheep and goats that require attention he added1 he revealed that they are worried that some of the outbreaks are linked to an apparent new variant of serotype o that has not been detected in the country but is in circulation in neighbouring countries1 the current vaccine appears to be unproductive but we are upgrading the vaccine to match all serotypes in circulation he added1 nyaga said the government has in the meantime embarked on promoting production of vaccines that offer longer immunity like the recently launched oil based vaccines to ease logistics of vaccinations1 he said the government has also issued guidelines for control measures to be undertaken by the county governments in their efforts to effectively control the disease1 he directed farmers to disinfect contact materials and equipment and dispose infected carcasses or materials hygienically1