MINISTRY CONDUCTS ROUTINE CHECKS ON ANIMALS

The Ministry of Agriculture and Waterways through its Animal Health and Production Division carry out an annual National Disease Surveillance in the Northern, Western and Central divisions and just recently a team also returned from Rotuma in the Eastern Division.

This exercise requires the collection of blood samples from poultry, sheep and goat farms and faecal samples from sheep and goat farms by the Vet Laboratory team based at the Koronivia Research Station.

The Vet Laboratory in Koronivia also conduct tests for exotic diseases in layer birds like New Castle Disease, Avian Influenza, Infectious Bursal disease and Salmonella Enteritidis.

Goats and sheep are often tested for Bluetongue, Caprine Arthritis Encephalitis and Foot and Mouth Disease.

Testing was also conducted in the Western Division and recently, teams returned from Taveuni and Rotuma to carry out this exercise.

Meanwhile, there are currently cases of Tuberculosis and Brucellosis in cattle in Fiji and the Ministry through its Brucellosis and Tuberculosis Eradication Campaign (BTEC), have a dedicated team of officers who are deployed to scheduled farms to carry out tests and also collect blood samples.

The samples are brought back to the laboratory in Koronivia for further testing and if tests are positive, cattle are tagged, isolated and taken to the abattoir for culling.

The Ministry hopes that more farmers will take the initiative to reach out to livestock officers in their nearest agriculture station for further information on signs and symptoms or overall care and management of their animals.

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