The veterinary department in Lugari Sub County has lifted a quarantine placed three months ago banning movement of livestock and their products within the Sub County. The quarantine was imposed late October 2017 and notice was served to all stakeholders after an outbreak of foot and mouth disease was reported in the area.
During the three months quarantine, movement of livestock to and from neighbouring Sub Counties or within the Sub County was prohibited unless with the authority from a government vet and farmers were also prohibited from grazing livestock along the roads to avert the spread of the disease.
Speaking to West Media, Lugari Sub County veterinary officer Dr. Wycliffe Muholo said the quarantine had been withdrawn after the disease was contained.
He said the outbreak was over and therefore livestock farmers were free to take their livestock to the market for sale or move them outside the Sub County. He added that his department managed to eradicate the disease after conducting a vaccination exercise in the affected areas.
Muholo further appealed to livestock farmers to report to his department immediately any sign or symptoms of the disease they may observe in their animals, saying this will enable his officers to respond immediately and avoid cases of quarantine.
Kipkaren and Matete livestock markets were affected by the three months quarantine and the lifting is a relief for traders, who will now be able to buy and sell animals in livestock auction yards within and outside the Sub County.
Some farmers from the Sub County who spoke to West Media, welcomed the move, stating that most of them depend on selling off cattle to pay school fees adding that most of them had a hard time when schools reopened and had just to sell the cattle locally at a through away price.