Kampala — Livestock fever commonly known as nagana, has broken out in Busolwe, Butaleja district and western Kenya.

"It is a hemorrhagic disease. Blood oozes out of the ears, nose and other openings of the animal that dies in a few days," said Dr. Loyce Okidi, the head of the sleeping sickness programme at the National Livestock Resources Research Institute.

Vivax nagana is transmitted from an infected animal to another by a common fly, tabanus stomoxys, locally called kawawa in Luganda and enkurikizi in Runyankole. "We are treating the cases as they come. We have effective DNA technology to accurately identify the diseases. We also use geographical mapping means," Okidi said.

She attributed the disease to an increment in the number of tsetse flies in the region. "The flies are found in over 60% of the country." The flies, Okidi added, transmit the parasites over long distances. She recommended that the domestic animals in Busoga, northern and central region be vaccinated against nagana. "If the animals are sprayed with acaricides, it could kill the flies," Okidi noted. Livestock keepers should use tsetse flies and stomoxys traps, he added.

However, the Butaleja district authorities said the epidemic was under control. It had affected livestock in the sub-counties of Kachonga, Busaba, Budumba and Mazimasa.

The district chairperson, Richard Gawaya, on Tuesday said: "The situation was worrying two weeks ago but we sought help from the agriculture ministry and the National Agricultural Research Organisation. The ministry gave us drugs."