Goat plague- a menace of pastrolist farmers in Kenya

Goat plague outbreak               by Mwangi Mumero

Veterinary officials in Kenya have launched a massive vaccination exercise targeting over 50,000 livestock in Marakwet County after an outbreak of goat plague that has already killed 2,000 animals.

The Kabete Veterinary Laboratories in Nairobi have confirmed that the deaths in Kerio Valley in northern Rift valley were attributed to Peste Des Petits Ruminants (PPR) –also known as goat plague.

Results of the lab samples ruled out Rift Valley Fever and East Coast Fever. The disease mainly affects small ruminants- goats and sheep and can cause a large number of deaths over as short period.

“This disease has in recent years spread through Turkana, Kerio Valley, Isiolo and Garrissa but was contained”, said Mr. Bernard Moenga, a Ministry of Livestock official in charge of veterinary disease control.

Livestock farmers in the region are bracing themselves for huge losses as animals die as the viral disease spreads.

“The animals start coughing and show excessive diarrhoea before they die. A loss in our goats and sheep will affect our livelihoods as it is the mainstay of the local economy”, observed Kibyego Biwott, a local farmer.

The Marakwet Veterinary Officer Dr Joseph Kiyeng has said that his department has dispatched PPR vaccines and is sensitizing farmers as vaccinations of their animals commences.

Beyond Marakwet County, the disease outbreak has been reported in Central Pokot, Baringo East, and Baringo North all in Kerio Valley.

The disease- also known as goat plague killed over 2 million small ruminants in Kenya from 2006 to 2009, according to the Ministry of Livestock development.

First reported in the country in 2006 at Oropoi and Lokichoggio divisions of Turkana district- close to the Sudan border- the disease has spread to 16 other districts across the country.

PPR is a severe, fast spreading disease of mainly small ruminants. Signs includes onset of depressions, fever, discharges from the eyes and nose, sores in the mouth with difficult breathing and coughing. There is also the production of smelly diarrhea and finally death.

The disease has also been known to attack wild relatives of goat and sheep like gazelles, gemsbok and Nubian ibex with many researchers attributing these as the sources of the periodic viral outbreaks.

Interaction of small ruminants with their wild relatives in the open fields has been suspected as the source of the virus. It is closely related to rinderpest of cattle.

The virus is spread through discharges from eyes, nose, mouth as well as loose faeces. The fine droplets in cough and sneeze spread quickly pass the virus especially when animals are in close contact.

Contact of animals in the markets, especially when coming from different regions, exacerbated the problem. Equally, a recent history of animal movements and gathering of small ruminants of different ages with associated changes in housing and feeding, boost the spread of the virus.

Other predisposing factors include the introduction of recently purchased animals into the village flock and animals sent to the market and returned unsold. Development of fattening units where animals are concentrated has promoted the spread of the scourge.

Changes in weather such as the onset of the rainy season as the harmattan season in West Africa have also been culprits to the outbreak of the virus.

The disease has infection rates of 50 to 100 per cent with 60 to 80 per cent of the infected dying. Some households have lost half their flocks from the disease. In endemic regions, most of the sick and dying animals are over four months and up to 2 years of age.

With the death, comes economic hardship, as most of the activities in arid and semi-arid areas (asals) are centre around livestock. The animals are the source of meat, milk, blood and income.

 “In pastoralist communities, sheep and goats belong to the poor and women. They sell them to buy cattle, an upward economic mobility. With their deaths, poverty becomes pervasive”, said Dr Maina Kibata, a Kenyan veterinary officer who has worked in Southern Sudan and has wide experience in PPR.

Dr Kibata added that barriers to the international markets are a major blow to livelihoods in these regions.

 There are approximately 10 million goats in the Kenya’s drylands. They are hardy and able to survive on poor pastures and go for long periods without water. They are also resistant to many internal parasites.

Further, over 90 per cent of these goats are indigenous and contribute 30 per cent of the total red meat consumed nationally.

Traditionally, goats are also used as sacrifices to the deities during times of calamities or diseases. They are also slaughtered to celebrate bumper harvests or peace between communities.

Small ruminants are always exported as live animals to the Arab world, a market closed due to the outbreak of goat plague.

Local markets effects include loss of business for various actors who rely on small ruminants production such input dealers, livestock traders, butchers, hides and skin dealers, and consumers.

“With the outbreak of this disease in our region, we expect quarantine to be impose with the closure of the local livestock markets. We will be unable to sell our livestock and this will affect our ability of buy food, pay school fees for our kids as well as meet the other social-economic demands”, lamented Mr. Biwott, the Marakwet livestock farmer, calling on the government to move quickly and contain this disease to avert the economic fallout. (Ends)