Bulawayo cholera warning after heavy rains

Source: The Herald – Breaking news. The Rhodesia Herald, January 30, 1974 HEAVY rains, rotting vegetation have increased the possibility of cholera reaching Matabeleland, and even Bulawayo, the city’s Medical Officer of Health, Dr EF Watson, said yesterday. “Cholera is the one truly water-borne disease,” Dr Watson said. With rivers running all over Rhodesia, the infection […]

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Source: The Herald – Breaking news.

Bulawayo cholera warning after heavy rains

The Rhodesia Herald, January 30, 1974

HEAVY rains, rotting vegetation have increased the possibility of cholera reaching Matabeleland, and even Bulawayo, the city’s Medical Officer of Health, Dr EF Watson, said yesterday.

“Cholera is the one truly water-borne disease,” Dr Watson said. With rivers running all over Rhodesia, the infection could spread into Matabeleland’s rural areas.

From there it could be brought to Bulawayo by campers or picknickers visiting infected areas.

“The chances of cholera spreading in Bulawayo, even if the disease was brought back by a camper or picnicker, are small, but it is a possibility,” he said.

Infected areas of Rhodesia were quarantined, but it was impossible to stop the movement of people completely.

“This is how it spreads: by carriers contaminating water supplies. Where people are drinking from rivers chances of infection are greater.”

If there were no contact through water, there would be no spread of cholera.

People should not drink raw water in rural areas. Campers should take city water with them, or boil rural water before drinking it.

He said that rotting vegetation was an indirect hazard. “Flies, are breeding in all sorts of places which in normal times would be too dry. And flies settle on infected human faeces, and then on food.”

Cholera has been diagnosed in the Mutema and Muwushu Tribal Trust Lands, the Ministry of Information said yesterday. Mutema, where there are two cases, is now a quarantined area and Muwushu, one case, becomes a quarantined area today.

LESSONS FOR TODAY

  • Zimbabwe has been fighting a protracted cholera outbreak since early 2023. Some SADC countries are also fighting the epidemic.
  • By January 2024, a cumulative number of cases registered nationwide was 20 446, and 452 cholera deaths.
  • Fighting the cholera outbreak should be a collective responsibility, where people join hands in order to eradicate the disease. The environment should always be clean. Apart from the Ministry of Health and Child Care and their partners; and, local authorities, all citizens should participate in making sure that the cholera epidemic is contained and should never recur.
  • This week, the Ministry of Health and Child Care with assistance from the UNICEF Health Resilience Fund, started a nationwide oral cholera vaccination (OCV) where they hope to administer the vaccine to all affected people.
  • Apart from the OCV campaign, the other interventions include Operation Chenesa Harare – an initiative that should be extended to all provinces; the supply of clean water through the sinking of boreholes in urban and rural areas. However, these are short-term measures. People should strive towards hygienic lifestyles.

 

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Russia 2024 presidential elections to give ZEC new depth

Source: The Herald – Breaking news.   President Putin Isdore Guvamombe Assistant Editor IT is common knowledge that Russia and Ukraine have been at war since Moscow launched a special military operation on February 24 2022. Many might not know that both Russia and Ukraine must constitutionally, hold presidential elections in the same month of […]

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Source: The Herald – Breaking news.

Russia 2024 presidential elections to give ZEC new depth 
President Putin

Isdore Guvamombe Assistant Editor

IT is common knowledge that Russia and Ukraine have been at war since Moscow launched a special military operation on February 24 2022.

Many might not know that both Russia and Ukraine must constitutionally, hold presidential elections in the same month of March 2024; (Moscow March 15 to 17 and Ukraine March 31).

While Russia is definite that it will hold elections in March, Ukraine — at the instigation of the US that fears that President Zelenskyy will lose — has sought to postpone the elections.

It is fact, not fiction that Zelenskyy will lose the election and that loss will spell doom for US President Joe Biden and his cronies.

The US does not want Ukraine to go to the elections because once Zelenskyy loses, it will open a Pandora’s box on US corruption, unothordox weapon deals, bio labs and how Biden and his close family members, especially Hunter Biden, have been involved in dark world dealings.

US is prepared to compromise the constitution of Ukraine for its own gain and Zelenskyy has been so captured that he no longer sees it fit to defend the constitution of his country. He is now a puppet of the US and its allies.

Russia under President Putin has nothing to fear. The elections proceed as per constitution. The constitution must be followed.

Let us call it a tale of two countries at war, holding elections in 2024.

Since the launch of the special military operation, Russia has liberated about a fifth of the country and Zelenskyy who has brazenly become captured by the Biden administration, knows he will lose. The US knows it and they have decided to delay or postpone the elections.

In the aftermath of Zimbabwe’s August 2023 elections, Russia’s election observer mission emphatically stood out for the truth and declared unwaveringly, that the elections won by Zanu PF had been free and fair.

The observer team said the pre- and post-election periods had been very conducive for elections and that the voting day itself, met standards.

This did not go down well with the European Union, United States and their fellow regime change mongers who wanted to manipulate the result and declare the elections not free and fair.

Despite all pressure, Russia was strong and resolute and remains so, up to today. Elections cannot be free and fair only when a candidate preferred by US and its allies in European Union, wins. NO!

Now Russia goes to the presidential polls in March and it should be in Zimbabwe’s interest to observe the elections. Indeed, Zimbabwe should observe the elections in Moscow, for many reasons.

Firstly, it is very critical to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), Zanu PF and all and sundry to get a feel of how Russia does it, given its complex politics and vast voters roll.

Secondly, Russia is also a very big country, which makes distribution of the ballot complex.

Russia uses ultra-modern technology in its voter registration, the actual voting and counting systems, which ZEC could tap into.

Re-appointed ZEC chairperson Priscilla Chigumba will certainly increase her already established depth in running elections.

Russia has done what the US, which claims to be the biggest democracy in the world, has failed to do.

But let us go back to the invitation and the complex Russia presidential elections.

The 8th presidential elections in Russia will be held 15–17 March 2024. Should the election fail to get a clear winner, that is, one who gets more than half the vote, a second round will take place exactly three weeks later, on 7 April 2024.

So organised is the Russian system that even the inauguration date is already known to be May 7.

Not that our ZEC is bad, but observing elections from bigger and more technologically advanced countries brings in a new depth into the character of our elections.

Some 15 individuals (six self-nominated candidates, what we would call independent) here in Zimbabwe and nine candidates representing political parties, have submitted documents to the Central Election Commission in order to register as candidates.

Incumbent President Vladimir Putin stands as an independent candidate.

In November 2023, former member of the State Duma Boris Nadezhdin   became the first person backed by a registered political party to announce his candidacy, running on an anti-war platform. He was followed by incumbent and independent candidate Vladimir Putin in December 2023, who is eligible to seek re-election as a result of 2020 constitutional amendments. Later the same month, Leonid Slutsky of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, Nikolay Kharitonov of the Communist Party Communist Party of the Russian_Federation, Vladislav Davankov of New People and others announced their candidacies.

For Zimbabwe, Russia provides a lot of inspiration. For Zimbabwe, Russia provides that technical edge that is required. For Zimbabwe, Russia provides the stamina to resist pressure, normally exerted by the US and its allies. For Zimbabwe, Russia provides hope of a progressive future and a fair and democratic world outside US hegemony.

Remember both Zimbabwe and Russia have been placed under illegal sanctions by the US and therefore, share a lot of common experiences.

Besides the history of collaboration and progressive thinking dates back from the days of the liberation struggle where Russia provided a lot weapons and training for the freedom fighters.

The 2024 election in Russia has proved President Putin’s credentials as a democrat beyond reproach, because if he did not believe in holding elections, he would have given the war in Ukraine as an excuse. But President Putin believes in holding elections religiously, the same way the Government of Zimbabwe under Zanu PF has religiously held elections since 1980.

Therefore, Zimbabwe and Russia share the same principle of democracy, as enshrined in constitutionalism, that makes the leadership adhere to election schedules, come what may.

Even under sanctions which make the political playing field favourable to US and Europe backed opposition, the Government has religiously held elections.

There is a lot to share between Russia and Zimbabwe and it is critical for Zimbabwe to observe elections in Moscow.

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D-Day for Job Sikhala

HARARE magistrate Tafadzwa Mhiti is expected to sentence Job Sikhala and Geoffrey Sithole after the […]

HARARE magistrate Tafadzwa Mhiti is expected to sentence Job Sikhala and Geoffrey Sithole after the [...]

Farmers must be proactive in fight against January disease

Source: The Herald – Breaking news.   January disease can wreak havoc on livestock farms Obert Chifamba Agri-Insight IT is fast becoming that cyclical nightmare, which every cattle farmer wants to quickly jerk out of and never drift back into again. That is January disease or Theileriosis. In recent years the country has made significant […]

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Source: The Herald – Breaking news.

Farmers must be proactive in fight against January disease 
January disease can wreak havoc on livestock farms

Obert Chifamba Agri-Insight

IT is fast becoming that cyclical nightmare, which every cattle farmer wants to quickly jerk out of and never drift back into again.

That is January disease or Theileriosis.

In recent years the country has made significant strides in the fight to contain the disease after nearly a million cattle deaths, severely denting the national herd re-stocking efforts.

Government has since responded by introducing a raft of measures towards the containment of the problem.

Sadly, each time we think we are making progress, fresh cases erupt and for a moment, the disease appears to be going wild again.

This is happening every year at the beginning of the rainy season. Maybe farmers are quickly getting into the comfort zone as soon as cases appear to be ebbing.

The disease has caused huge economic losses after killing hundreds of thousands of cattle, particularly from 2017 to date.

Of course there have been signs of lulling in cases from 2021 to the present with Government support, through Treasury, making it possible for the country to bring down cases and deaths, year-on-year by 47 and 31 percent in 2021 and 2022 respectively.

I guess this was the point at which most farmers thought they were home and dry and loosened their grip on the gains that had been made towards eradicating the problem.

Sporadic outbreaks of the disease have therefore not been uncommon from that period to the present but Government has not lost focus and duly announced war on January disease last year.

It has rolled out several initiatives to consolidate the progress that has been made and introduced the 5-5-4 dipping regime during the rainy season to ensure the pest was defeated.

The Presidential Tick Grease Programme further strengthened the Government’s charge while the resumption of the Bolvac vaccine manufacturing added more venom to the fight.

Recent reports of cattle deaths due to the disease are once again worrisome amid indications that something is definitely compromising the concerted efforts from Government and other stakeholders.

Essentially, the buck stops with the farmer because he is the one on the ground monitoring and making sure the progress recorded towards securing the welfare of his cattle at any given point is maintained.

In the reports, the Department of Veterinary Services (DVS) revealed that 618 January disease-inspired cattle deaths had been recorded countrywide from December 2023 to January 2024 with chief director Dr Pious Makaya once again challenging farmers to religiously follow their dipping rota and stick to the 5-5-4 regime throughout the rainy season.

From the figures revealed by Dr Makaya, the highest number of cases were reported in Mashonaland East with 177, Mashonaland West with 118 with Masvingo third on 94, Matabeleland South with 91, Mashonaland Central on 49, Midlands 43, Manicaland 33 and Matabeleland North on 13. This shows that the country has recorded some breakthrough in the fight to contain ticks, thanks to the integrated tick-borne disease control strategy that is currently being used.

Maybe it may require the DVS to revise the way it is enforcing compliance to dipping of cattle by farmers.

If it means raising the penalties for failure to dip cattle so be it because this may be a case of just a few farmers failing to dip their cattle effectively and giving ticks another chance to re-group.

The current penalty for not dipping cattle according to Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development permanent secretary, Professor Obert Jiri may be a fine of US$50 per beast not dipped or failure to access bank loans by the errant farmer.

And given the fact that the disease is common between December and March although of late it has come to occur all year-round despite peaking in January, this means that farmers should now treat every time of the year in the same manner in which they treat the month of January during which it peaks.

It is now a fact that the brown ear tick is remaining active throughout the year hence the need to adopt a militant approach towards it every minute.

It is time farmers also adopt other tick containment measures other than plunge dipping and use them to complement the former.

The refreshing news at the moment is that Government is pushing to broaden the manufacturing of the vaccines to control the disease and ensure every farmer has access to them.

At the moment, DVS’ target is to produce 400 000 doses of Theileriosis/January vaccines, 80 000 for Red water (Babesiosis) and another 80 000 for Anaplasmosis (Gall sickness).

The department is also expecting to produce 25 million doses of Newcastle this year compared to 15 million produced last season.

DVS deputy director Diagnostics and Research, Dr Chenai Majuru has also confirmed that the department will be targeting to scale up production of the tick borne disease vaccines to boost the fight against pests that usually manifest in numbers during the rainy season.

Dr Majuru further revealed that they were working on modalities to produce anthrax vaccines saying a technical team was already on the ground training the experts tasked with producing the vaccines.

This means that the problem of anthrax will also be significantly reduced, which makes cattle farming safer than it currently is.

But whatever happens, farmers must always remember that dipping is a critical component of protecting livestock from tick-borne diseases with vaccination programmes and tick grease application coming in as complementary measures. The process of dipping helps to break the tick cycle.

Besides maintaining a strict dipping schedule, farmers also need to be alive to the fact that ticks are also spread through moving cattle from one area to another without authority from DVS.

They need permits to move. It is also crucial to vaccinate their livestock against vector-borne and soil-borne diseases to prevent major outbreaks during the rainy season and the vaccines must be bought from reputable sources and not random traders.

At this point it may also make sense for DVS to come up with a vaccination calendar to remind farmers on the times they need to be vaccinating their cattle against these persistent diseases.

Some awareness programmes regularly may also not be a bad idea given that every year the country is losing many cattle to the same disease or diseases.

Farmers on the other hand must now act like business people and have the courage to sell one or two heads of cattle to secure vaccines or dipping chemicals to save the bigger herd. It is unfortunate that some farmers still keep cattle for sentimental value and just brag about the size of their herds yet do nothing to maintain and keep them growing.

January disease is a notifiable disease in Zimbabwe and if a farmer suspects it on his farm, he is compelled by law to report it to DVS. Statistics show that more than 65 percent of cattle deaths in Zimbabwe are caused by tick-borne diseases, which include a January Disease, Red Water, Heart Water and Gall Sickness.

It is therefore important for farmers to remember that dipping of cattle is mandatory by law and should be done at least once a week to control ticks and tick-borne diseases during the rainy season.

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