Kenya has lost its beef export quota to Europe over its failure to control animal diseases.

The 4,000 metric tonnes meat export per year quota has now been taken over by Botswana.

The ban has been prompted by the failure to check diseases like Rift Valley Fever and foot and mouth.

The task of reclaiming the quota proved even more difficult, yesterday, after the Government sounded an alert over a viral disease that has killed thousands of sheep and goats.

The announcement of the PPR threat (peste des petits ruminants) was made by Livestock minister Mohammed Kuti at Kabete Veterinary Research Laboratories in Nairobi.

Dr Kuti said 2,931,800 sheep and goats, mainly in the arid and semi-arid lands, are at risk if proper vaccination is not done.

In a related incident, Samburu residents are alleging that more than 50,000 of their sheep and goats have died from a mysterious disease in the last few months.

They claim the animals succumbed to the disease, which veterinary officers are unable to diagnose.

Efforts to get a comment from area district veterinary officer Philip Adarwa were futile.

Mortality rate

PPR is an acute, contagious and fatally viral disease that infects goats and sheep, and is capable of recording a 100 per cent mortality rate in severe outbreaks.

Some of the symptoms are fever, ocular and nasal discharges and diarrhoea. It is closely related to the virus that causes rinderpest, another deadly animal disease.

The disease, which is endemic in some African countries, is believed to have originated from the Sudan, which has one of the highest numbers of livestock on the continent.

The viral disease was first reported in the country in Loima Division, Namoruputh sub-location, in March 2006. It has now spread to West Pokot, Baringo, Samburu, Moyale and Marakwet.

Others are Marsabit, Mandera, Wajir, Laikipia and Ijara.

Dr Kuti said the new ministry will embark on the arduous task of making the livestock producing areas disease-free to reclaim its export share to Europe and other parts of the world.

"We need to engage in a massive vaccination exercise to ensure PPR and other diseases are brought under control to improve our export earnings," said the minister.

He said the ministry needed Sh800 million to buy drugs and vaccinate the animals, but so far, it had only received Sh200 million.

"The Government has already ordered 700,000 doses of vaccines and stepped up surveillance measures," Dr Kuti told the media.

In the first PPR outbreak, a total of 1,575,000 doses were acquired and used in the affected areas of Turkana, West Pokot, Moyale and Wajir.

The newly appointed minister, who toured the research laboratory, said it lacked adequate staff.

"The facility needs about 14,000 employees but currently has only 7,000," he added.