The UNMISS Indian Battalion has established a mobile veterinary clinic in the Melut area, part of central Upper Nile State still under government control.

Earlier this month it was estimated the number of displaced people in Melut town and the nearby Dethoma camps was more than 15,000. They fled to the area from Malakal, Baliet and other areas to the south that saw violence since last December.

Many of the displaced brought with them their herds of livestock. The number in the Melut area is not known; nationwide about 10 million livestock have been displaced by conflict, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimated in February.

“The clinic provides services for cattle belonging to civilians displaced in Melut including on UNMISS protection site. Over 5,000 animals have received treatment such as deworming and distribution of free medicine as well as food supplements,” the peacekeeping mission stated in a regular update released yesterday.

The mission noted that the availability of veterinary services in Melut had been stopped since December, causing serious consequences to livestock and the livelihood of the displaced community.

According to FAO, South Sudan was already facing challenges in terms of livestock diseases even before the outbreak of the national crisis in December.

“In some areas, young animals have been dying at a rate of 40-50 percent,” said Sue Lautze, the FAO representative in South Sudan in a January press statement.

She added that recent progress in controlling these diseases through systematic vaccination has been disrupted, because of the destruction of the country’s vaccine storage and distribution system in many areas.

Photo: Indian troops providing treatment to cattle in Melut (UNMISS)

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Indian Army veterinarians offer services in Malakal (17 Aug. 2013)