In a bid to curtail the effects of communicable diseases in livestock, which also have a high chance of affecting the human populace, the Lagos State government has begun sensitisation of stakeholders within the red meat value chain.
The Lagos State Commissioner for Agriculture, Abisola Olusanya, while speaking at the opening ceremony of the sensitisation workshop at the Johnson Agri-Centre in Oko-Oba, Agege, said that the state had set up a committee to address the spread of diseases. Citing the recent anthrax outbreak in the country, the commissioner said that the disease is harmful to both affected animals and the human population and that the standing committee was mandated to monitor the disease in livestock across the state.
She said that Lagos is a major livestock receiver and had already recorded two incidents in two local government areas which in turn triggered the Public Health Emergency Operation Centre on Anthrax at the Ministry of Health. According to the commissioner, “This was followed by the immediate vaccination of the ruminant flock population across the five administrative divisions of the state with Anthrax spore vaccine from the National Veterinary Research Institute. Olusanya said that the state government had currently vaccinated 12,115 animals with the Anthrax prophylactic vaccination and is still vaccinating livestock around the state, to curtail the spread of the disease.
