Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) has once again struck Masindi district.

The disease gets hooves of cows rot as well as growing of blisters inside the mouth and on the feet of animals that may rupture and cause lameness.

It has caused serious losses to farmers through increased deaths of the animals as a result of failure to feed since cows possess blisters in their mouth.

“The epidemic has cost me over ten million shillings in just two weeks. I vaccinated the animals but I have so far lost 33 calves and my brothers have lost 37 calves,” said Sam Kaiji, one of the cattle keepers.

 “I have lost over 160 litres of milk due to the death of calves,” Kaiji further explained.

Another cattle keeper, Mwine Calleb criticized the effectiveness of the available vaccines on the Ugandan market and pointed out their failure to work as the reason to why the disease has persisted.

FMD hit the same district especially in the areas that are predominantly occupied by cattle keepers early this year. Other than Masindi, FMD also affected other cattle keeping districts of Nakaseke, Hoima, Kiboga and Kyankwanzi.

However, the disease was managed through imposing quarantines that limited the trade and movement of animals.

The most affected areas of Masindi include Kijunjubwa, Kaikuku, Rukongyi, Ntooma and Midumu.

The Chairperson LC 3 of Kimengo Sub-County, Robert Musasizi expressed his commitment to fight the disease in partnership with the central government.

“We made outcries asking for government’s intervention to help curb Foot and Mouth disease. We have also resorted to establishing a farmers’ force in an attempt to manage the drastic spread of the viral disease,” said Musasizi.

However, our attempts to talk to the District Veterinary Officer (DVO) were futile as he did not pick our calls.

The presence of infectious diseases such as FMD, limits Uganda’s ability to access major export markets and her performance in the global export trade in livestock and livestock products.

Courtesy Photo