Threat of disease outbreaks as veterinarians strike looms

Cases of the deadly anthrax and rabies are likely to go up if an industrial strike notice by veterinary practitioners is not averted.

On Tuesday last week, the veterinarians issued a 60-day strike notice to their employers unless their grievances, that include being equipped with better working facilities, are addressed.

This comes amid concerns over an outbreak of anthrax in some parts of the country, with Kisii County being the most affected.

In a notice issued to the Ministry of Agriculture, specifically to the Livestock Department and the 47 county governments, the Union of Veterinary Practitioners, Kenya (UVPK), has listed a range of demands including a review of its members’ remuneration.

“Despite veterinary practitioners being overworked and exposed to life-threatening viruses as the first line of defence for animal and human health, there has been a programmed approach by the government through the Salaries & Remuneration Commission (SRC) to deny our practitioners the right to fair compensation,” said UVPK secretary general Dr Miheso Mulembani.

This, he said, is meant to guarantee the public food safety and prevent practitioners being blamed for veterinary public health-associated deficiencies.

“It is shocking and disheartening to see Kenyans eating dog meat because the country lacks the veterinary manpower to inspect and ascertain the quality of meat across the country. Equally, we mourn with the people of Kericho and Kisii counties who have either lost their lives, their body parts, maimed or are still hospitalised after consuming uninspected meat,” Mulembani said.

Dog bites

In November last year, the ministries of Health and Agriculture reported that there were more than 1,000 suspected rabies cases in a year.

Counties reported an average of three cases per month in the same period from an estimated 1,000 dog bites.

The data seen by People Daily from national rabies surveillance in Kenya for the period under review also identified three counties with the highest cases.

Dr. Emannuel Okunga from the disease surveillance department at the MOH said the data was sourced from the outpatient and inpatient cases in all health facilities offering curative services.

“On average when we look at our data we have three rabies cases a month nationally out of more than 1,000 dog bites,” he told People Daily.

The Kenya Small and Companion Animal Veterinary Association had earlier revealed that eight counties had reported rising cases of rabies.

Animal pathogens

The data showed that Kitui was the leading with 24 cases, followed by Tana River (12) and Busia (10).

For dog bites, the top three counties reporting the highest cases are Nakuru 3,010, Uasin Gishu 2,577 and Nairobi 2,528, the data reveals.

Veterinary practitioners play a crucial role of protecting Kenyans against deadly animal pathogens like the current anthrax outbreak in Kisii County, he noted.

Mulembani warned that the veterinary services in the country which are key in protecting human and animal health could collapse anytime if the issues they have raised are not addressed comprehensively.

“Our practitioners have been overworked and underpaid across the national and county governments. For example, from 2013 to date, 67 per cent of the entire veterinary workforce across the two levels of government has retired with no replacement,” he said.

The unionist said that when practitioners suffer disabling injuries, they are not paid Work Injury benefits.

“The approach by counties to work in silos and without the central national command is facilitating the spread of killer pathogens such as anthrax and rabies. If unchecked, rabies will kill more Kenyans in the year 2023 than before,” he warned.

Mulembani said the shortage of veterinary doctors and paraprofessionals is a time bomb.

“The veterinary practitioners undertaking surveillance and clearances at our border points and reference laboratories have been overworked without any extraneous allowances being paid to them. Equally, this applies to practitioners manning our counties and sub-counties, those in institutions of higher learning and those undertaking veterinary public health through inspection and assurance of meat for public consumption and export,” he said.

Mulembani said the State Department of Livestock has a shortfall of about 1,000 veterinary practitioners while counties have an estimated shortfall of 20,000 veterinary surgeons and veterinary paraprofessional shortage.

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