January 3, 2023

 

More than 56,000 cows and buffalos in Cambodia hit by infectious diseases in past year

 

 

More than 56,000 cows and buffalos were stricken by infectious diseases in Cambodia in the past year.

 

A Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries spokeswoman  said on December 29 that the country has suffered adverse weather conditions that caused flooding; this in turn caused diseases among cattle including Haemorrhagic Septicaemia around (15,776 cases), foot and mouth disease (20,706 cases), lumpy skin disease (13,804 cases), blackleg (58 cases) and other diseases (5,794 cases).

 

"The ministry is always thinking about the welfare of livestock in the kingdom, especially preventing disease, looking for infected animals and working with farmers who raise pigs, chickens and cattle to be aware of the health risks to their livestock from these diseases," the spokeswoman said.

 

Heng Piseth, director of the Tboung Khmum Provincial Department of Agriculture, said that in 2021, there were over 10,000 cattle in Tboung Khmum province infected with lumpy skin disease, but last year, this  and other diseases have been less prevalent in livestock.

 

"We are always ready to vaccinate livestock. This year, we have observed the cases of lumpy skin and foot and mouth diseases were not as prevalent among the livestock," Piseth said. "In order to prevent disease spreading, we always advise farmers to vaccinate their livestock to protect them.

 

"I am still concerned that diseases such as blackleg, lumpy skin and especially foot and mouth, could re-emerge if cattle are not vaccinated regularly.

 

Dith Tina, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, said: "The General Department of Animal Health and Production, as well as the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, have made efforts to promote this sector.

 

"Some problems still remain, such as animal diseases which affect the breeding and supply of meat and animal products to the market, which affects the Cambodian economy.

 

"In the past, Cambodia has experienced outbreaks of a number of diseases, such as foot-and-mouth disease, lumpy skin, H5N1 or bird flu and swine flu which caused serious damage to livestock farmers, especially rural farmers."

 

Tina added that the lack of testing laboratories and limited human resources have greatly affected the development of the livestock sector, which is a major concern.

 

"In order to improve the livestock sector in Cambodia, the ministry will attract private investors and propose projects for investment in the necessary infrastructure support services and help to expand and strengthen private sector animal production to promote the development of farms and animal processing enterprises for export," Tina said.

- Khmer Times