Bulacan vaccinates carabaos vs flu-like disease

BALIUAG, Bulacan – Veterinary officials in the province have started the massive vaccination of carabaos to prevent the spread of a flu-like disease that has killed carabaos in the nearby provinces of Pampanga and Tarlac.

Sotero Manuel, this town’s municipal agriculture officer, told The STAR that farmers are alarmed by the carabao deaths in the nearby Pampanga town of Candaba.

As early as last week, Manuel said farmers here had called his attention to the increasing carabao deaths in Candaba town which authorities attributed to hemmorhagic septicimia, a flu-like disease.

Manuel said some farmers in Barangay Hinukay here had their carabaos vaccinated in Candaba.

Dr. Felipe Bartolome, head of the Bulacan Provincial Veterinary Office, said they started the vaccination of carabaos and cattle last week in Pulilan town, which has the highest carabao population in the province.

He said more bovines would be vaccinated in the following weeks with the arrival of additional vaccines.

Officials said at least three carabao deaths have been recorded in the province, but they still have to confirm if they were due to hemmorhagic septicimia.

Bartolome said though the disease is curable with the vaccine “Bacterin.”

He said they would vaccinate at least 5,000 carabaos in Bulacan and some 6,000 heads of cattle as a preventive measure.

He said the disease is weather-related and its symptoms include common cold and flu for carabaos.

He said acute cases of the disease recorded in the Pampanga towns of Bacolor, Porac, Sta. Ana, Mexico and Arayat showed that afflicted carabaos died after six to 24 hours.

“It is important that farmers report the incidents immediately to the nearest veterinarian so that vaccines can be administered promptly,” he said.

Bartolome said most of the afflicted carabaos are one to three years old with little resistance to the disease.

“We are hoping that our livestock in Bulacan will remain free of the disease, but we are not taking chances,” he said, advising livestock raisers to ensure good management practices.

Farmer Patricio de Guzman said a carabao costs from P50,000 to P100,000.