DILI, 30 november 2022 (TATOLI) – Researcher of the Animal Health Department of the National University of TimorLorosa’e (UNTL), Alípio de Almeida and Adelaide Cristóvão said brucellosis, an infectious disease caused by bacteria of the genus Brucella, and the slaughter of pregnant cows contribute to a reduction in the number of cows population in the country.
Alípio de Almeida and Adelaide Cristóvão defended and concluded the result of their research in a presentation delivered at the national seminar entitled: “Brucellosis and Animal Reproductive Performance,” organized jointly by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAP) and UNTL, in Comoro, Dili.
Almeida, in his presentation of the results of the research on ‘Productivity, health, parasites, and zoonoses in cows, in slaughterhouses’ revealed that most workers in slaughterhouses were not able to identify the pregnancy status of cows.
“In this study, I focused more on productive cows, especially pregnant cows that were slaughtered in the official slaughterhouse in Tibar and non-legal slaughterhouses in Maliana, Baucau, as well as Comoro and Becora, in Dili. In each of these slaughterhouses, up to 10 cows are slaughtered a day,” said Alípio.
Alipio said if the relevant parties do not intervene, this will negatively affect the production of the cow population in the country.
“The result of this research raises an alarm for slaughterhouses to stop slaughtering pregnant cows. The decrease in animal reproduction rates will lead to an increase in the price of meat in the market and contribute to the problem of malnutrition in the country as people cannot afford to buy meat for their children,” Alipio stressed.
Concerning brucellosis, Alípio said according to the study, 13 percent of 815 cows slaughtered in the abattoir were infected with brucellosis.
Researcher Adelaide Cristóvão, in her presentation, said that according to research data from five sucos in the Maliana Administrative Post of Bobonaro municipality, more than 40% of cows were infected with brucellosis and this circumstance harmed cow’s reproduction.
“The data of a total of 1,334 cows were gathered for this study. Of which 42% are infected with the disease. Therefore, we concluded that the disease has already spread in Maliana,” she said.
Alípio de Almeida and Adelaide Cristóvão expressed concerns as the government is yet to carry out vaccination campaigns to prevent and eradicate the disease in the country.
In this regard, the Vice Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Abílio Xavier de Araújo, pointed out that the Government’s policy is to collaborate with national investigators and academic institutions to identify the symptoms of the diseases in animals before any decision be taken and implemented by Government such as the acquisition of vaccines.
Journalist: Afonso do Rosário
Editor: Maria Auxiliadora
Translation: Filomeno Martins/ Editor: Nelia Borges
