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The Caribbean Amblyomma Eradication Programme (CAP)

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The Caribbean Amblyomma Eradication Programme (CAP) The Caribbean Amblyomma Eradication Programme (CAP) -- Interview: - "I would say that over the years, all farmers have lost a lot of animals, from cattle to sheep and goats, through this particular bont tick. You'd have flocks of sheep that I have encountered with other farmers, who would maybe be a hundred, coming on to the season of the tick, and after the season is end, they'd be done to maybe 30, 40. In a particular year we wouldn't really know exactly what caused the problems, you know the animals were just dying off." Fitzmorgan Greenaway, is a Sheep Farmer in Antigua, who once lost a lot of animals because of the Tropical Bont Tick. The tropical bont tick Amblyomma variegatum is of African origin. It was first introduced into the Caribbean in about 1750, when infested cattle were imported into Guadeloupe from Senegal. It then spread to the island of Marie Galante and to Antigua. During the twentieth century, the tick spread to many other Caribbean islands and the risk of further spread is still very high to areas including: - Florida - Gulf of Mexico - Central America - and the Atlantic coast of South America as far south as Uruguay. Mr. Kanyuira Gikonyo is Chief Veterinary Officer in Antigua. He describes a disease... that he knows very well: Interview: "There are multiple effects that a tropical bont tick would cause on an animal, one of those is just plain and simple, the bites of the tropical bont tick are quite vicious on an animal, and in Antigua we have a lot of local terms for the tropical bont tick and one of those is something called sinking tick, meaning that the tick actually, the mouthparts of the tick are actually embedded underneath the cattle skin and the hide. The bites of those ticks especially they are found in the teats area, in the mammary gland area, they are found between the hooves and so on, tend to be very painful so animals would actually be lame even after the tick has been removed….An animal that would have had a tick between the hooves would have a problem as far as walking so they tend to lose weight and lose condition because they cannot really walk to get food. An animal that would have a tick somewhere around the udder, would have a problem as far as the calves or the kids nursing from it and the kids would actually suffer and sometimes die from it. " In 1994, the Caribbean Amblyomma Program (CAP) was established, with the aim of eradicating the tropical bont tick from the Caribbean. A major donor in this Program is the United-States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Also contributing is the EU-CARIFORUM Mr. WINSTON RUDDER, in his capacity as the FAO Sub-Regional Representative in the Caribbean and FAO Representative in Barbados, explains: Interview: "Well, the particular project that we are involved in today has emerged out of a relationship that has lasted the better part of 8 or 9 years, between on the one hand the EU and USDA as funders, FAO as the technical assistant partner and the countries of the Caricom as beneficiaries. We are specifically now in Antigua, where we are doing an additional phase recently with USDA funding, FAO technical assistance support focussing on Antigua, also on Nevis and St Maartan, because these three islands have been found to be islands where there needs to be a particular focus on eradication… The relationship of course has developed over the last 8 or 9 years to the extent that the donors are fully convinced that the project is sensible, it has been a contribution, and in the islands where we have been already the eradication has been spectacular over the last 8 years. " -r. RICHARD PACER, a USDA Representative there, explains why his country feels concerned by the disease: Interview: "The US, as well as other countries in the Americas, do not want the tropical bont tick to enter in, because it could be devastating to our animal livestock populations, in particular it would be devastating to the cattle population, sheep and goats, but also wildlife in these countries including the United States, and so the obvious reason is we don't want it to spread any further and enter into our country where then we'd have to take a more active eradication programme ourselves and undergo perhaps even today in today's world trade implications or trade barriers as a result of having this in our country. In a broader sense there's the desire to provide assistance to our neighbours." Under the eradication programme, the local vets receive adequate training in order to assist the farmers. How does the strategy work? Details... Vet Gikonyo. Interview: "In Antigua and Barbuda [for instance], the stray animal population is a big problem, as far as the spread of the tropical bont tick, and actually it is because of that that we have looked at a different strategy as far as being able to deal with the eradication of the tropical bont tick. And we have realized that the stray roaming cattle population would have to be put under control for the programme to be successful. Really for an eradication anywhere close to successful you need to be treating 95% to 97% of your animals at all times, and of course 100% is even what we prefer. And with the number of stray roaming livestock we have in Antigua then that cannot be achieved and it becomes quite important to make sure that the animals that we have are under control and that the owners have access to them in order to be able to treat them with Bayticol, so we have impact on a programme, where we are actually branding and tagging animals to identify them to a particular owner and we're also embarked on a cattle impounding process where any animals that are stray in public areas or any animal after the completion of the branding and tagging that are not bearing a brand or tag, those animals are going to be impounded. " Agriculture is not as important to the economy of Antigua as is tourism. However, there are two issues of concern that the government and the people of Antigua are grappling seriously. These are the issue of food security, and secondly the vast potential, that has not been fully developed, in order to contribute to a higher proportion of food needs, from domestic agriculture production. This is confirmed by Honorable Vere Bird Junior, Minister of Agriculture, Lands and Fisheries, Antigua Interview: "We feed our animals on grass. You can't have any better thing. Grass is what Mother Nature expected cows, goats and sheep to feed on. We don't have any possibility of getting Mad Cow and so forth because we're not feeding animals to animals. And therefore as such, I do feel we have the right meats that we can give to the tourists. We have two problems. Right now when it comes to ground meat we have a ban on the importation of ground meat. We insist that the local farmers must at least supply that. We have pressures from the hoteliers, oh that the tourists want the taste of North America, where they are barley-fed and that sort of thing. I personally don't agree with that. A tourist comes to this country; they want to take a good steak. If the person looks after his animal properly, there's nothing wrong with that. The hotels are insisting that they must have imported meat. We are working towards in the very near future; say a year and a half to two years, where all the choice cuts can be done from our own animals." -r. ELIOT PAGE, a Senior Economist in the Antigua Ministry of Foreign Affairs, also agrees that potentials in the milk and meat industry are great. Interview: "Well the growth of the milk and meat industry on the island of course depends on the demand and one of the major demands is the increase in tourist arrivals, for us. Our population's been growing rather slowly over the years so the demand there might not be that much, but if we start marketing ourselves and doing a lot of the ideas that a lot of people have for various tourism products to increase that sector, certainly there would be an increase in demand for local production of meat and poultry products. The potentials are really really great for us and really great for the economy, and all we have to do of course is provide the right incentives to the local producers and ensure that we have the correct standards to meet the local market. And farmers would be better off, if everybody could mobilize efforts against the tick. But not all farmers see it that way, says sheep farmer Fitzmorgan Greenaway. Interview: "We are able to have more animals and therefore we are able to sell more. So it has benefited us tremendously in that regard, and we are hoping that in the years to come we'll get rid of this tick completely. So we won't have a problem with it again. We hope that through vigilance, through cooperativeness, with CAP, with all the farmers in Antigua and Barbuda, that, you know, we would get rid of this tick. All farmers do not see it that way. And its regrettable so because its to our detriment for those who don't want to get on board.
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