Thousands of cattle, sheep and goats were vaccinated in Twic and Tonj East counties of South Sudan’s Warrap State this week, a senior local official said.
Joseph Lual, the Director General at the Warrrap State Ministry of Animal Resources, told Radio Tamazuj on Friday that the animal vaccination drive is ongoing despite challenges due to flooding in Twic County.
“The vaccination of livestock is ongoing in Tonj East County, and the number of cattle vaccinated against anthrax, hemorrhagic septicemia, black quarter and contagious caprine pleuropneumonia is 53,626 and 14, 666 cattle were vaccinated in Twic County, and that makes the total number of animals vaccinated in two counties to be 68,292,” Lual explained.
He added, “For the sheep and goats in Tonj East County, we have 6,376 sheep and goats vaccinated against anthrax, and peste des petits ruminants and 800 goats were also vaccinated in Twic County.”
The official disclosed that floods have hindered them from continuing with the vaccination process in Twic County, saying the state ministry plans to resume the vaccination exercise next month.
Meanwhile, Tonj East County Commissioner John Deng Kok said: “I am still collecting data about the livestock vaccinated in Tonj East County, it is ongoing, and there are a lot of diseases affecting livestock, and that’s why the process is important to rescue the lives of animals.”
Keeping livestock alive and healthy is vital in South Sudan, where most of the population depends heavily on cattle for livelihood.