In January 2019, livestock quarantine was imposed following an outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease, FMD. Consequently, sale and purchase of cattle, goats, sheep and pigs and their products were prohibited and all markets closed. The movement of cattle, goats, sheep and pigs and their products was restricted.
Traders in Moroto District have defied the livestock quarantine
imposed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, MAAIF.
In January 2019, livestock quarantine was imposed in the district following an
outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease-FMD. Consequently, sale and purchase
of cattle, goats, sheep and pigs and their products were prohibited and all
markets closed. The movement of cattle, goats, sheep and pigs and their
products was restricted.
However, many traders have resorted to conducting cattle trade in
the bushes and some hidden places in Moroto town. Goat meat has been on sale in
Camp Swahili market, South Division in Moroto Municipality for more than one
month.
Richard Odeke, a boda-boda cyclist says the goats are slaughtered every day in
bushes and meat ferried to town in polythene bags. He revealed that the butcher
men only sell the meat to specific individuals especially Boda Boda cyclists
who buy for different people.
At the junction along Kitale Road and Lia streets, pork is now
sold in the open. When URN visited the Teso Pork Joint last evening, it was operating
with many customers on the table.
Simon Ochom, one of the pork dealers said they have been selling pork for the
last three weeks.
He also claimed that the authorities had given the green light on
the business.
But the Moroto District Veterinary Officer, Dr Moses Okino, said the
quarantine was still in place until MAAIF directs otherwise.
“That calls for police action. No one has been given permission to trade in
cattle or its products until ministry lifts the quarantine. We shall follow up
with all these claims you have brought”, he said in a text.
Earlier on, Dr Okino revealed that animal health had improved
where mortality rate had also reduced by 65% following interventions by the
district and MAAIF after FMD outbreak. He explains that almost all animals in
the district have been treated and vaccinated.
//Cue in “The markets…
Cue out…resources we have”//
According to Dr Okino, eating animals undergoing treatment
increases chances of drug resistance in humans. He also revealed that
Brucellosis, one of the diseases spread through consumption of milk and meat is
on the rise in Karamoja since most people pay a deaf ear to
veterinarians. He notes that out of 50 patients tested over Brucellosis,
20 are found with the disease in Karamoja.
Moroto district is still struggling with other livestock diseases
like Contagious Bovine Pleural Pneumonia [CBPP], Lumpy Skin, Anaplasmosis and
Black Quarter, among others.
