Al-Daein, July 16 (Darfur24)
East Darfur’s Ministry of Livestock has warned of a growing outbreak of livestock diseases amid a severe shortage of veterinary vaccines, raising fears of heavy losses among animals that sustain thousands of pastoralist families.
Dr. Saeed Abkar Saeed, an official at the ministry, told Darfur24 that authorities are working with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to secure urgently needed vaccines.
He said vaccine supplies have been exhausted since the outbreak of the war following the destruction of the veterinary vaccine production plants in Soba and Nyala, which previously supplied Darfur and Kordofan.
The ministry has recently received increasing reports of outbreaks of hemorrhagic septicemia, cowpox, and others in several parts of the state. Officials also warned of the risk of transboundary livestock diseases entering from neighboring South Sudan.
Herders told Darfur24 that the diseases have spread among their livestock, adding that vaccines against the four major diseases, including hemorrhagic septicemia and rabies, have been unavailable since the war began.
Livestock owners urged the authorities and humanitarian agencies to provide vaccines urgently to prevent further losses.
To contain the outbreaks, the Ministry of Livestock, with support from the Zakat Bureau, recently vaccinated about 90,000 cattle, sheep and goats in Abu Matariq against anthrax, plague and cowpox.
However, ministry officials said the campaign covers only a fraction of the state’s needs, warning that the continued shortage of essential vaccines remains a major threat to livestock in one of Sudan’s key livestock-producing regions.