The Sokoto State Ministry for Animals and Fisheries is taking proactive measures to prevent the spread of anthrax disease in the state.

To achieve this, the ministry has directed a “mop-up” vaccination exercise, focusing on neighbourhoods sharing borders with Zamfara State, where the disease was recently detected.

The Permanent Secretary, Alhaji Muhammad Abubakar Yabo, urged residents to be vigilant and take advantage of the free vaccination program provided by the state government.

He encouraged people to bring their animals for vaccination, emphasizing that the exercise is free of charge and to facilitate the vaccination process, the ministry has assembled a team of veterinary doctors and animal scientists.

This initiative aims to cover animals that were missed during previous vaccination exercises, ensuring that 95% of the state’s cattle, sheep, and goat population receive anthrax vaccination.

Dr Nasiru Abdurrahman, Director of Business Services at the Sokoto State Ministry for Animal Health and Fisheries, shed light on the ministry’s response to disease outbreaks in neighbouring states.

Recently, the federal government alerted the ministry to outbreaks of anthrax in Zamfara and bird flu in Kano.

The ministry swiftly forwarded these alerts to its management for prompt action. Fortunately, the ministry already had a rapid response team in place, which quickly mobilized to assess the situation.

This proactive approach is not new to the ministry. Previously, when anthrax broke out in Danchadi town, the state governor intervened rapidly, containing the disease.

As a result, the federal Ministry of Livestock provided 800,000 doses of anthrax vaccines to Sokoto State. The state ministry promptly requested support and initiated a vaccination exercise, which is still ongoing.

Sokoto State’s vaccination campaign against anthrax has been ongoing for three months, focusing on areas that were previously unreached.

The effort aims to protect the state’s livestock population from the deadly disease.

So far, the vaccination drive has covered an impressive 95% of the state’s cattle, sheep, and goat population.

In addition to the vaccination campaign, the state has also been exploring new technologies to improve livestock production.

Last year, a team from Sokoto State attended a workshop on artificial insemination in Indonesia, where they performed exceptionally well.

As a result, the state received a donation of 1,000 sermons for dairy and beef production.

The workshop organizers later visited Sokoto State to monitor the use of the donated sermons and inspected the state’s livestock resources.

The artificial insemination program is still ongoing, and the state is encouraging livestock owners to take advantage of this new technology.

Currently, there are about 750 doses of sermons in stock, with around 250 doses already in use. Sokoto State is also proactive in preventing the spread of Avian Influenza.

The state government has maintained funding for the Avian Influenza Control Project, which was initially supported by the World Bank.

Thanks to these efforts, Sokoto State has managed to keep the disease at bay, and there are currently no reported cases.

Saturday Telegraph reports that the state is home to over 270 registered poultry farms.