New anti-tick vaccine in Uganda to shield livestock from major threat

Transcript

00:00The Ryonga dairy farm in Uganda's western city of Mbarara has existed for generations.

00:14The family started off with the traditional long-horned angkoli cattle before moving on

00:19to the exotic breed to produce more milk.

00:23They had now numbers in hundreds.

00:26There was a presidential initiative of enriching homesteads and making sure that every family

00:31has milk, ensuring production and productivity.

00:36So now we incorporated, we brought in the Frisian cows, the hybrid cows, we started to cross

00:41them way back in the 90s.

00:44Now we reached at a level where we have a very good Frisian cross.

00:47The cows graze freely but this puts the herd at risk of tick infestation.

00:54Dogs thrive in wet conditions and are more active in grassy environments and can cause

00:59serious diseases and even death of the animal.

01:03The Ryongas use chemicals for spraying their animals which scientists say are harmful to

01:09humans and the environment.

01:10We have a very big challenge.

01:13These are Frisian cows.

01:14These are not local cows.

01:15Their immunity is a bit low compared to our local long-horned angkoli cows.

01:20That is why most farmers have now been forced to cross them with the boran, with the angkoli.

01:26We face a very big challenge of disease.

01:29Our drugs are still substandard and very expensive at the same time.

01:33Now, a new vaccine produced by scientists from the National Agricultural Research Organization

01:40will help farmers like their youngers to manage their livestock in a tick-free environment.

01:46The new vaccine is an affordable and sustainable way of controlling ticks and cattle.

01:52Compared to chemicals that require farmers to spray at least twice a week, this vaccine

01:58is applied only after every six months.

02:02Work on the vaccine started in 2005 and is now in its final approval stages before commercial

02:09production later this year.

02:11The drug was developed from proteins formed in indigenous ticks and is said to be over 80% effective.

02:19It is going to reduce the dependency on chemical acid for control of ticks, which have proved

02:34to be less effective for having been used for several years.

02:40The anti-tick vaccine will be sold at about a dollar and a half per dose, much lower than

02:46what's charged for a similar dose of the chemical products.

02:51Eliminating ticks will not only keep livestock healthy, but also improve milk production

02:58and livelihoods of millions of farmers across the country.