Agago District has received 100,000 doses of Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) vaccines and a digital laboratory refrigerator from the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) to strengthen livestock disease control.
The vaccines will be administered to cloven-hoofed animals, including cattle, goats, sheep and pigs, as the district continues to battle outbreaks of FMD and other livestock diseases.
Agago District Veterinary Officer Walter Akena said the vaccines are available to farmers, but livestock owners will be required to contribute towards the cost of vaccination under the Government’s new co-funding policy. Under the policy, farmers will pay 8,000 Shillings per head of cattle and 4,000 Shillings for goats, sheep and pigs.
Akena said vaccination has become increasingly important because the Government has directed that unvaccinated animals should not be issued movement permits or allowed for slaughter. Farmers will also be required to present vaccination certificates when selling or moving their livestock.
He urged farmers to view the vaccination fee for cattle as a small investment compared to the value of an animal, which can exceed 1 million Shillings. He encouraged livestock owners to mobilise the money through the sale of animals or casual farm work to ensure their herds are protected.
Agago District Chairperson Wilson Otto also urged livestock farmers to comply with the vaccination requirement, saying it would protect their animals from disease while allowing them to sell or move livestock legally. However, some farmers said delays in vaccination had exposed their animals to preventable deaths.
Augustine Okidi, a resident of Laperebong Sub-county, said livestock farmers in the area were facing a serious disease threat. He reported that three cattle had died in Ladit Okun West and another two in Ngekidi within two days. Okidi attributed part of the disease spread to the practice of keeping cattle in communal kraals, where infected animals can easily transmit diseases to others. He warned that continued livestock deaths could significantly reduce the district’s cattle population in the coming years.
He called on the Government to ensure that vaccines reach the district before outbreaks occur, arguing that preventive vaccination is more effective than waiting until animals become sick. Agago has more than 82,000 cattle across its sub-counties and has experienced outbreaks of FMD and Black Quarter.
FMD is a highly contagious viral disease that affects cattle, sheep, goats and pigs. It can cause significant losses to livestock farmers through deaths, reduced productivity and restrictions on animal movement and trade.
