Shortage of dipping chemicals threatens revival of national

Hopes for the revival of Zimbabwe's national cattle herd faded this week amid revelations that a shortage of chemicals has prevented the veterinary services department from providing dipping services for the past five months. The development comes at a time when the country is failing to control a nationwide outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD). FMD has already cost the country millions of dollars in potential export earnings, as its traditional markets in the European Union are maintaining an embargo on Zimbabwean beef, and the emerging markets of Malaysia, Libya and the Democratic Republic of Congo have followed suit. Provincial veterinary services officials in the cattle-producing Matabeleland region in the south of the country told IRIN they had last received dipping chemicals five months ago. There was already an upsurge in tick-borne diseases such as heartwater, due to the cancellation of fortnightly dipping services. "We last received a consignment of the chemicals in August last year. The department says it has no foreign currency to buy the chemicals, and cattle in the two provinces have not been to the diptanks since then," said Dr Msongelwa Mangena, the veterinary officer for Matabeleland South province. "I cannot say how many cattle have been lost at the moment, but I am waiting for the situation reports from all the seven districts in this province. But yes, the situation is bad, and it may cause a serious upset to efforts to rebuild the provincial herd," Polex Moyo, the provincial veterinary head for Matabeleland North said. Dr Wilbun Madzima, the country's deputy director of veterinary services, confirmed the countrywide lack of chemicals, but expressed hope that the situation would soon return to normal. He downplayed the overall effect, saying the shortage of dipping chemicals was confined to the dry months, when tick activity was low. "The situation could be returning to normal within two weeks because the government has given us an allocation to buy the raw materials used in the manufacture of the chemicals. Due to the foreign currency shortage, we have not been able to get allocations on time. But the company contracted to manufacture the chemicals is already working around the clock to make up for the deficit," said Madzima. Zimbabwe's cattle population is currently estimated at 250,000 head, down from a peak of 1.4 million four years ago. An estimated 150,000 cattle have been lost to drought in Matabeleland North and South, while a further 10,000 have died because of the FMD outbreak. Veterinary experts say the country needs at least nine million doses of FMD vaccine to fight its spread in the next three years. However, the government has been able to import only three million doses of the vaccine per year from Botswana.