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Garissa County has vaccinated at least 10,000 goats against various diseases and some residents against rabies in celebration of the World One Health Day this year.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), One Health is an integrated, unifying approach that aims to sustainably balance and optimise the health of people, animals and ecosystems.
It recognises that the health of humans, domestic and wild animals, plants, and the wider environment are closely linked and interdependent.
John Koskei, a veterinary surgeon in Garissa County who is leading the exercise said three-quarters of the human diseases are from the animals, while the other quarter comes from the environment, hence the need to treat the matter as a whole.
“One Health is a new concept which is happening today in all counties. We realised about 75 per cent of human diseases are from animals and the other 25 per cent comes from the environment,” Koskei said.
“It is important that when we consider the lives of humans, we also take care of the animals and our environment.”
“We are vaccinating people against rabies and animals against two diseases including Blue tongue, which is a new disease in Garissa that need to be tamed before it grows out of proportion and Contagious caprine pleuropneumonia (CCPP), which a pneumonia for goats,” he said.
Mahat Osman, a herder who had his goats vaccinated said they had been facing the challenge of transporting their livestock from the grazing areas, looking for the veterinarians, but were relieved to have the officials vaccinate their animals for free.
He called for more frequent vaccination drives and called on his fellow herders to bring out their livestock for vaccination, which may save their lives, especially during this drought season where livestock are prone to diseases.
Garissa County Commissioner Mohamed Mwabudzo said there is a need to come up with new ways of rearing livestock, especially at a time when the world is grappling with the effects of global warming like prolonged droughts and floods.
He called on the county government to equip and provide adequate resources to the department of agriculture to reach all persons who need their services across the county.
“Livestock for the pastoral communities is a great wealth. We thank the organisations that have been training our farmers in the best practices so that they can improve their livelihoods from their livestock,” Mwabudzo said.
