The Jonglei state government has announced it will provide free drugs for treating East Coast Fever (ECF) to cattle keepers in Bor county, South Sudan
The drugs will be only be available to cattle keepers who cannot afford them in the open market, the government said.
East Coast Fever, a tick borne disease, broke out in Bor in 2008 and has since carried on to infect cattle in the county.
“We have a project on the ground with the FAO (Food Agriculture Organisation), funded by the Japanese government, targeting vulnerable groups who cannot afford to buy drugs in the market because they are expensive,” Jonglei state deputy director of livestock and fisheries Madol Apolo said.
The five-month project was first set up by identifying 900 beneficiary farmers in Bor county where the disease has spread since it broke out in 2008, according to Apolo.
The East Coast Fever drug costs SDG150, an amount that many cattle keepers cannnot afford.
Indian veterinary doctors who have an animal clinic based in Negal, the capital of Bor, have been helping local farmers by treating their animals. In July, they had treated more than 900 cattle at Malualchat and a high number of goats and sheep in the same vicinity.