The Tilapia Lake Virus, for which the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has issued an international alert, has not yet been reported in Kenya and is not transmissible to humans.
The Kenyan State Department of Fisheries, however, warned that fish farmers are the most exposed, as the disease could wipe out an entire population in a pond.
FAO last week issued an alert for the TiLV, saying that it had already been detected in five countries-- that is Ecuador, Colombia, Israel, Egypt and Thailand, and that Thailand had already reported unto 90 per cent loss of farmed tilapia.
Kenyan fish farmers have been warned to be on the lookout following a global outbreak of a viral infection that is affecting the Tilapia species.
The Tilapia Lake Virus, for which the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has issued an international alert, has not yet been reported in Kenya and is not transmissible to humans.
The Kenyan State Department of Fisheries, however, warned that fish farmers are the most exposed, as the disease could wipe out an entire population in a pond.
“No one has reported it yet. But we are looking to see if it is here,” said Fisheries principal secretary Micheni Ntiba. “This is a viral disease, you know. That means it spreads really fast. But then it will have a greater impact on farmed fish, that is fish in ponds. In such systems you will find that the virus can kill every single fish within days of infection.
“But then in a huge ecosystem such as Lake Victoria, it would be very difficult (to catch) every single tilapia because remember, fish are migratory and the lake is very big,” said Prof Ntiba.
Kenya recorded a surge in fish farming after former President Mwai Kibaki’s regime implemented an economic stimulus policy in 2008 that supported construction of fish ponds in constituencies.
Kenya National Bureau of Statistics data, however, indicates that production of fish from the ponds dropped to 14, 952 tonnes last year from a peak of 24,096 in 2014.
State officials have blamed the county governments for paying little attention to the fish farms project—which had a set target to boost annual production to above 20, 000 tonnes in the short term and 100,000 tonnes after five to 10 years.
About Sh1.2 billion was provided for construction of 200 fish ponds in each of the 140 constituencies.
This was aimed at creating 120,000 jobs and benefit more than 290,000 youth through the fish farms, feed manufactures, fish processors, traders and other actors.
Aquaculture provided 11.6 per cent of the country’s total fish production, with the remaining share coming from lakes and oceans.
FAO last week issued an alert for the TiLV, saying that it had already been detected in five countries-- that is Ecuador, Colombia, Israel, Egypt and Thailand, and that Thailand had already reported unto 90 per cent loss of farmed tilapia.
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