The Federal Government, through the Livestock Productivity and Resilience Support Project (L-PRES), a World Bank-assisted programme, has donated more than 200,000 doses of vaccines for animal vaccination across Gombe State.
The National Coordinator of L-PRES, Dr. Sanusi Abubakar, made this known on Monday in Gombe while presenting the vaccines to the state government. He said the initiative was aimed at strengthening disease prevention and improving livestock productivity.
Abubakar explained that the vaccines would enhance animal health, protect public health, boost productivity and improve the livelihoods of livestock farmers in the state.
Represented by Dr. Sadik Usman, an official of the National L-PRES, the coordinator said the intervention would enable the state to effectively combat trans-boundary animal diseases that reduce livestock productivity and farmers’ income.
“The package includes 150,000 doses for Contagious Bovine Pleuropneumonia (CBPP), 50,000 doses for Newcastle Disease and 4,000 doses for Foot-and-Mouth Disease.
“These vaccines are intended to control the spread of trans-boundary animal diseases and improve overall productivity,” he said.
Abubakar urged relevant stakeholders to ensure that the vaccines reach the intended beneficiaries. He also announced that an additional batch of vaccines for Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) would soon be delivered to the state.
Receiving the vaccines on behalf of the Gombe State Government, the Commissioner for Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Cooperatives, Dr. Barnabas Malle, commended the National L-PRES for its efforts to improve livestock productivity in the state.
Malle said the vaccines would be administered free of charge to livestock across the state to combat deadly animal diseases.
He noted that the donation would complement the state’s annual mass vaccination programme, recalling that Gombe State had earlier procured anthrax vaccines with support from L-PRES.
The commissioner added that, given the large livestock population in the state, the donated doses would significantly support ongoing vaccination efforts. He disclosed that the state planned to procure additional vaccines to ensure full coverage of its animal population.
Malle assured that the vaccines would be utilized judiciously in line with the objectives of the donors.
Also speaking, the Gombe State L-PRES Project Coordinator, Prof. Usman Abubakar, described the intervention as critical to the state’s agricultural economy.
He identified the targeted diseases as major causes of livestock losses in the region and expressed readiness to set up a working group to oversee the vaccination exercise.
Abubakar urged herders and livestock farmers to present their animals for vaccination, stressing that the exercise would be free and effective.
