Focus on vaccination, creating active immunity for livestock

In recent days, veterinary forces have coordinated with localities to simultaneously organize the first vaccination campaign of 2024 to create herd immunity for livestock, contributing to effective disease prevention during the changing seasons.

Mass vaccination

Implementing the vaccination plan for livestock and poultry in the first phase of 2024, the veterinary sector and localities have simultaneously organized vaccinations for livestock. This phase, the veterinary sector will vaccinate cattle against foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), lumpy skin disease and pasteurellosis; vaccinate pigs against FMD, pasteurellosis and cholera; vaccinate goats and sheep against FMD. For poultry, the veterinary force will vaccinate against Newcastle disease, avian influenza and duck cholera.

After more than half a month of vaccination, up to now, Tuy Hoa City has injected more than 1,300 doses of FMD vaccine, accounting for 50% of the total herd to be vaccinated; injected about 1,800 doses of lumpy skin disease vaccine, accounting for 68% and nearly 900 doses of anthrax vaccine, accounting for more than 34%. Currently, the veterinary force of communes and wards is continuing to deploy vaccination, striving to achieve a vaccination rate of 80% or more.

Similarly, in recent days, the veterinary force of Dong Xuan district has also focused on vaccination work. According to Nguyen Phuong Thao, Deputy Head of the Dong Xuan District Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Station, the total number of buffaloes and cows subject to vaccination in the district is nearly 14,000.

To date, the locality has administered nearly 2,400 doses of FMD vaccine, 8,800 doses of lumpy skin disease vaccine and about 200 doses of anthrax vaccine. The station continues to closely monitor and support veterinary staff in communes, towns and grassroots veterinary forces in implementing vaccination, ensuring a minimum vaccination rate of 80%.

Ms. Tran Thi Hong Le in Xuan Quang 1 Commune (Dong Xuan District) said: My family raises 6 cows. We have recently registered and had veterinary staff come to our house to vaccinate the whole herd against FMD and lumpy skin disease. After the vaccination, we were also instructed on how to care for and monitor the health of the herd; if there are any unusual signs, we must report to veterinary staff for timely intervention and treatment.

According to the Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine, in this phase, the whole province has 106,245 buffaloes and cows that need to be vaccinated. Up to now, localities have injected nearly 7,000 doses of FMD vaccine, more than 51,000 doses of lumpy skin disease vaccine and about 2,000 doses of anthrax vaccine. Currently, the weather is sunny and favorable for vaccination, so the Veterinary Department is coordinating with localities to promote vaccination, striving to vaccinate all livestock in the vaccination phase and ensuring that the vaccination campaign will end as planned on April 30.

People need to be proactive

Mr. Nguyen Van Lam, Head of the Provincial Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine, said: According to the 2024 vaccination plan for livestock and poultry of the Provincial People's Committee, this time the State supports free FMD and lumpy skin disease vaccines for small-scale livestock farmers, thanks to which the vaccination work is quite favorable. For poultry, the province only supports avian influenza vaccines for poultry farmers in Phu Hoa district and Dong Hoa town.

According to Mr. Lam, for vaccines that are not supported by the State, farmers have to buy and inject themselves, so the vaccination progress is very slow. Farmers are still very subjective, waiting and relying on the State, so the vaccination campaign is facing many difficulties. Meanwhile, vaccination is one of the most effective solutions in disease prevention. Mass vaccination of livestock will create active immunity to dangerous diseases, limiting most of the risks for farmers. Therefore, farmers need to be more active in vaccinating livestock and poultry.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Tam in Hoa Thang commune (Phu Hoa district) said: This time the weather is changing seasons, flies, mosquitoes... are breeding a lot, so I am afraid that the cows will get lumpy skin disease. Therefore, my family has vaccinated the cows against FMD and lumpy skin disease. In addition, I also registered to get an additional vaccination against septicemia, because this is a very dangerous disease, if the cows get infected, they can easily die, causing huge losses. The cost of vaccination is less than 200,000 VND but it can prevent the disease for the whole herd.

Along with vaccination, to improve the effectiveness of disease prevention, farmers need to pay attention to environmental sanitation, ensure that livestock are provided with adequate food and water, help livestock have the best health and resistance, limit the invasion of harmful viruses, and reduce risks for farmers.

Head of the Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine of the province Nguyen Van Lam

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