By Marion Achieng

A Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) outbreak in Kenya’s leading milk subcounty, Githunguri, which produces Fresha milk, is disrupting national milk supplies and killing cattle across the county, according to vets.

“Cattle have died. I have never experienced this strain of foot and mouth disease. From end of April, May, June, and July there has been a harsh foot and mouth disease in Kiambu,” said a leading industry expert in an interview with FarmBizAfrica.

On 6th August, Githunguri sub-county announced a quarantine and movement restrictions to try and prevent the spread of the disease, but sector specialists report that the wave is only the latest as the government grapples with the highest rates of FMD in the world.

Researchers have found that around 88 per cent of Kenya’s cattle have picked up FMD at one time or another, followed closely only by Burundi at 87 per cent, and well ahead of the world’s other most infected regions, which include parts of Pakistan and Nigeria.

The government has been working to vaccinate the country’s cattle, but FMD has 7 types and a vaccination against one does not protect cattle from the other six types. Moreover, vaccinations have been resisted by sine farmers as a conspiracy to stop their cattle reproducing.

In an effort to curb the strain ripping through Kiambu, Githunguri veterinary officer Antony Kaguchia has directed that all livestock in the sub-county be herded as far as possible from any public road and owners of all animals dying from the disease burn the carcasses or bury them six feet below the ground. 

The livestock markets in the county have been closed. 

Farmers attending last week’s Six Nations Livestock Expo from Kiambu were forced to show without their animals. “Even though our farm has not been hit by FMD, you can clearly see we are indirectly affected because even if we make a sale outside Kiambu, we cannot move the animals because of the restrictions placed,” said one.

Fresha milk is the most geographically concentrated of the country’s milk producers, only sourcing from its own 27,000 members in and around Githunguri.

Producing more than 265,000 litres a day, the brand is a leading supplier to Nairobi.

FMD typically reduces milk production by around 35 per cent at its peak, but the bigger problem in Kiambu appears to be the number of cattle dying from the strain that is driving the current outbreak.

“In Kiambu area, cattle have died so much. I can’t tell the exact number, but …they told me in Kiambu, the disease has devastated farmers so much,” said the sector leader.