Veterinarians on a campaign to vaccinate cattle in Svay Rieng province. AGRICULTURE MINISTRY
Veterinarians in Svay Rieng province are set to start a campaign to vaccinate more than 400 cattle in Chantrea district against bovine pasteurellosis, with some provinces having already done so.
Pen Chanthy, head of the provincial animal health and production bureau, said the jab drive – set to begin on June 8 – will involve cattle yet to have been inoculated during a previous campaign. From February to June 2, veterinarians in the province vaccinated 2,366 cattle against the disease, with 119 sick cattle having recovered.
“In this village, for example, there are a lot of cows, of which 50 or 70 were yet to be vaccinated because residents did not join with us in the campaign,” Chanthy said.
Huy Touch, head of the animal health and production bureau in Banteay Meanchey province, said that while cattle with bovine pasteurellosis had died in June, the timely intervention of veterinarians had helped return the situation to normal.
He added that the province had no serious outbreak of the respiratory disease, and veterinarians would soon begin to inoculate cattle against bovine pasteurellosis after receiving vaccines from the General Department of Animal Health and Production.
“Not many of our farmers joined us in the previous vaccination campaign, and we could not force them to do so. If we try to vaccinate, they say their cattle not are ill, and they still refuse it even after we explain the situation to them. It is only when their cattle are sick that they ask for our help,” Touch said.
Pen Setha, head of the animal health and production bureau in Battambang province, said on June 6 that he was aware of no cattle falling sick in any district this year, and that his bureau had received more than 50,000 doses of bovine pasteurellosis vaccines per semester.
“We have received more than 50,000 doses of the vaccine but have more than 90,000 cattle in the province, with some residents having not taken their cattle to be vaccinated after we announced this campaign,” Setha said.
In the last six months in 2021, agriculture officials vaccinated 26,882 cows and 116 buffalos, with 3,258 cattle having been inoculated against lumpy skin disease, he noted.
