Strengthening the bases for the diagnosis, prevention, control, and eradication of diseases and pests that affect animals, and regulating good livestock management constitutes the main priority of the animal health department of the Delegation of Agriculture in the province of Las Tunas, so its specialists carry out arduous work to maintain the health of the basic mass of pork, poultry, cattle, sheep and goats, pets, and migratory species.
Las Tunas, Cuba.- The work is aimed at preventing tuberculosis, cholera, and swine fever, as well as diseases caused by ticks, stomach ailments, encephalitis, and infectious anemia of horses, which involves the sacrifice of the infected animal.
Renier García Bermúdez, head of the department, pointed out that compliance with the program to prevent African swine fever is maintained, with the application of biosafety measures in all units dedicated to raising pigs, where they carry out the established controls and maintain strict surveillance. For this reason, the province has been without any case of that disease for several years.
In the same way, the poultry mass is constantly monitored, although for several years it has not been possible to set up the system to control avian influenza, because the country does not have the necessary reagents, so more arduous work is carried out in epizootiological surveillance with migratory birds, to avoid contagion.
Actions are also carried out to combat rabbit hemorrhagic disease and even when there were effects in three municipalities of the province, the spread of the disease was prevented by preparing the personnel and not transferring the animals.
The vaccination campaign for cattle and horses is very depressing, although a certain figure of animals with higher risks are vaccinated to avoid contagion, with strict use of the few products available, and so far the results are satisfactory.
Regarding animal abuse, the Head of the department pointed out that the province still does not have all the technical conditions to apply Decree-Law No. 31/2021 on Animal Welfare, which aims to regulate the principles, duties, rules, and purposes regarding animal abuse, care, health, and use of animals, to guarantee their well-being, about which many organisms have to integrate for better behavior of the activity.
In this sense, the province is working on the creation of a subsidiary for the protection of animals and plants, for which the legal bases are studied to inform and train on such a sensitive issue, which still has many fissures from the community and institutions.
