January disease accounts for US$3O million economic losses in Africa

Theileriosis disease better known as January disease accounts for US$3O million economic losses in Africa as approximately one million cattle die from the disease annually, Dr Oswin Choga has said.

Speaking at the Zimbabwe Newspapers (Zimpapers)’s Sunday News Effective Livestock Disease Management Conference in Bulawayon on Friday, Dr Choga said “The annual economic losses is about US$30 million in Africa.

“Cattle loses are approximately one million per year.”

The conference is held the theme: “Reviving the Livestock Sector for Vision 2030: Tackling the Theileriosis (January) Disease.”

In Zimbabwe, January disease has been a problem resulting in thousands of cattle succumbing to the disease in recent years.

It is common between December and March and is spread through the bite of the brown ear tick.

More than 65 percent of cattle deaths in Zimbabwe are caused by tick-borne diseases, with 500 000 cattle valued at US$150 million having died of January disease from 2018 to 2022, according to reports.-chronicle