Jonglei state to give free drugs for cattle keepers

September 15, 2013 (BOR) – The Jonglie state government has pledged to provide free drugs for treating East Coast Fever (ECF) to cattle keepers in Bor.

East Coast Fever, a tick borne disease, broke out in Bor in 2008 and has since continued to infect cattle in the county.

But now, under a five month project funded by Japanese government through Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), cattle farmers will get the drugs for free.

Jonglei’s state deputy director of livestock and fisheries, Madol Apolo said last week that the project intends to benefit 900 households in Bor.

“We have a project on the ground with the FAO [Food Agriculture Organisation], funded by the Japanese government targeting vulnerable groups who cannot afford buying drugs in the market because they are expensive”, Madol Apolo told journalists.

The five month project has began by identifying 900 beneficiary farmers in Bor County where the disease has been confined since it broke out in 2008, according to Apolo.

In the open market, the East Coast Fever drug costs 150 pounds, an amount that many cattle keepers cannot afford.

Indian veterinary doctors who have an animal clinic located in Negal, the capital of Bor, have been helping local farmers by treating their animals.

In July they treated over 900 heads of cattle at Malualchat and a large number of goats and sheep in the same area.

(ST)