Scientists from the Morogoro-based Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) have developed a new vaccine for chickens which, they say, controls three diseases at once.
The vaccine - known as Tatu Moja (Swahili for ‘Three-in-One’) was developed to prevent Newcastle disease, Fowl pox and Infectious coryza: some of the common and chronic respiratory diseases.
The vaccine was researched and developed by the scientists led by Prof Philemon Wambura and Dr Mirende Kichuki, both from SUA.
“These are chronic diseases which have been affecting poultry in Tanzania for a long time,” said Prof Wambura by phone yesterday.
He noted that the vaccine has been thoroughly researched and approved by the relevant authorities in the country to start distributing and selling to pastoralists from December 2020.
Prof Wambura said that the vaccine, along with its quality, would be stored and used at room temperature without the need for refrigeration cooling.
It is available in a volume of 200 doses (enough for 200 chickens).
In addition, it has been given a special color that will change if the vaccine is damaged or mixed with anything else and thus avoid the problem of farmers being sold or given low quality vaccines.
Prof Wambura said the diseases such as Newcastle have no treatment yet and have been killing chicken in bulk.
Tanzania is home to some 87.7 million chickens, according to the 2019/20 Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries Census conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
According to the census, 75.1 million chickens were owned by smallholders and 12.6 million chickens were owned by large-scale farmers.
Zanzibar had 3.1 million chickens in the same period. Some farmers say the vaccine would improve the performance of their business but complain that it was not yet available in the retail shops.
“We have heard of the vaccine and if what the scientists are saying is actually true then it’s going to rescue the farmers. We have suffered for a long time,” said Mr Christopher Makotwe, a leader of the poultry keeping group ‘Tusumuke’ in Dodoma.
The vaccine will be produced and distributed in the country by a company known as ‘Novabi,’ working in partnership with Farmers Centre.
STORY CREDITS
This post was originally published by The Citizen News Paper's website on Monday, 21 December 2020. To access the full article, visit here
Read also
SUA scientists discover a new chicken vaccine; It controls three diseases at once
Share this page
