The Ekiti State government has vaccinated all livestock in the state against trans-border diseases which usually attack them.
Oludare Abegunde, permanent secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, stated this while flagging-off of this year’s ‘Pestes des Petits Ruminant’ (PPR) otherwise called “kata” vaccination for sheep and goats in Ado-Ekiti.
Abegunde, who stressed the economic importance of the vaccination for livestock, observed that the vaccine was meant to immunise sheep and goats against trans-boundary animal diseases (TADS) which are capable of wiping out a very large number of animals within a short period of time.
He enjoined all sheep and goat farmers across the state to bring forward their livestock for free vaccination against these killer diseases.
Abegunde described prevention as the best approach to checkmate the outbreak of diseases among livestock, while urging sheep and goat farmers to take the opportunity seriously.
The permanent secretary called on farmers in the state to register with farmers’ enumerators covering their areas.
He however warned that any farmer not registering and not having his or her BVN would henceforth be disallowed from partaking in government intervention programmes.
Earlier, Femi Ajibua, director -veterinary department in the ministry, who lauded the efforts of the state government in partnering with the Federal Government to provide free vaccines against contagious diseases that can ravage livestock, promised to extend the immunisation to rural areas across the state.
He urged all sheep and goas owners to bring their animals out for free vaccination.
Akinremi Feyisipo, Ado-Ekiti
