Regular spraying of livestock will reduce financial losses to the farmer because diseases such as heart water, East Coast fever and disease causing vectors like ticks will be eliminated.
Failure to eliminate disease causing vectors will increase the spread of East coast fever which accounts for 30% of deaths among the newly born calves in Uganda.
Officials from the agriculture ministry, however, advise that for the effective elimination of such diseases, animals should be sprayed regularly. For effective management of disease causing vectors, farmers should always spray their animals using an accaricides which contain Deltamethyrine which is readily available on the market.
Effects of diseases among livestock
Death, low milk production, poor quality hides and skin, meat among others.
When to spray
During the rainy season animals should be sprayed twice a week or three times a month, depending on the type of accarisides being used. Spraying twice or three times a week is to ensure that those that are washed off by the rains are replaced in the second or third round of spraying.
How to purchase quality accaricides
Farmers should buy accaricides that contain Deltamethyrine to eliminate the vectors. This is to guard against fake chemicals that could be on the market.
They should also buy from well-established drug stores with clear instructions to help them use the accaricides in the right amounts. According to officials from the agriculture ministry, most farmers lack the skills necessary to safely handle accaricides while spraying their animals. They also apply little which leads to drug resistance in livestock.
