Principal Secretary in the State Department of Livestock and Fisheries Andrew Tuimur speaking.[Photo/nation.co.ke]The Kenya Veterinary Association (KVA) has announced a crackdown on quack veterinary officers who have infiltrated the sector.
Principal Secretary in the State Department of Livestock and Fisheries Andrew Tuimur said the unscrupulous individuals posed a health hazard to livestock in the country.
He blamed the untrained officers for increased cases of microbial resistance reported across the country since they don’t administer drugs and vaccines professionally.
This, he said has rendered a number of recommended veterinary drugs in the market less effective dealing a blow to the fight against common diseases.
The government, he said was in the process of setting up a veterinary regulatory directory to control the heavy misuse of veterinary medicine witnessed in the country.
“Veterinary medicine has proved to be largely misused. It’s shaming that even unlicensed individuals are administering the jabs among other drugs to our animals. This is against the statutes of the veterinary profession,” he warned.
Speaking in Kisumu during the 11th World Rabies Day Scientific Conference, the PS asked KVA to ensure the sector is sanitized.
He said uncertified individuals found executing Veterinary services risked a 12months jail term or 100,000 shillings penalty or both.
The conference brought together scientists and veterinary doctors from across the country to discuss rabies. Kenya is among other nations that signed to eradicate rabies by the year 2030.
To achieve the target, the Ps called for the involvement of verified KVA officers and approved Rabies Vaccines.
He observed that rabies was a deadly zoonotic disease spread from infected dogs to humans through bites but regretted the fact that it was largely ignored.
“Rabies kills nearly 2,000 people in Kenya every year. If left unattended, the disease will stay with us and unleash more suffering,” he added.
According to Kisumu acting Health Services Chief Officer Dickens Onyango, 10, 790 dogs received the rabies vaccination in the financial year 2016/2017.
The vaccination exercise which is ongoing, he said has helped reduce the cases of rabies infection in the country.
He, however, revealed that cases were reported in Seme and Kisumu East sub-counties which were contained.
State Department of Livestock and Fisheries Director Dr Dulu Thomas asked County governments to round up stray dogs to give impetus to the fight against the deadly disease.
He revealed that nearly 70% of dogs in the country receive the immunization annually expressing optimism that the percentage would scale up with the current sensitization program.