Countrywide vaccination exercise takes shape as 30,000 animals vaccinated in Turkana

A total of 30,979 goats and sheep in the Turkwel and Lobei/Kotaruk wards have been vaccinated, dewormed, and treated in an exercise jointly carried out by the County Government and the Turkana Pastoralist Development Organisation (TUPADO).

The vaccination campaign, which ran from January 13 to this week, is the second phase of an integrated emergency drought response project in partnership with IRC and funded by USAID through the Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance (BHA).

The project aims to protect and enhance food security, livelihoods, and nutritional outcomes for at least 24,000 individuals through animal health services. To date, 1,698 individuals in 283 households have benefitted from the intervention.

Dr. Erenious Nakadio, Deputy Director for Veterinary Services, emphasized that this initiative is part of ongoing collaboration with animal health stakeholders in the county.

“The Peste des Petits Ruminants vaccinations in the county also contribute to the national strategy for the elimination of PPR in the country. Therefore, we call on other partners to support similar initiatives,” he added.

Dr. Nakadio also mentioned that the County Government will continue to ensure that veterinary supplies are procured and prepositioned at the sub-county level and will further develop the necessary infrastructure to support future interventions.

Dr. James Keben (TUPADO) noted that the joint Participatory Disease Surveillance (PDS), supported by TUPADO, highlighted the need for a livestock mass vaccination against PPR in Loima Sub-County, as the results suggested possible cases of the disease.

By Peter Gitonga