Impact of drought-related vaccination on livestock mortality in pastoralist areas of Ethiopia

Effectiveness and profitability of preventive veterinary interventions in controlling infectious diseases of ruminant livestock in sub-Saharan Africa: a scoping review

Agriculture in general, and livestock production in particular, serve as a livelihood source for many people in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). In many settings, lack of control of infectious diseases hampers livestock productivity, undermining the livelihood of rural populations. This scoping review sought to identify veterinary interventions previously evaluated as well as their relative effectiveness in controlling infectious livestock diseases. To be included, papers had to be written in English, German or French, and had to describe the effectiveness and/or profitability of preventive veterinary intervention(s) against anthrax, blackleg, bovine tuberculosis, brucellosis, contagious bovine pleuropneumonia, contagious caprine pleuropneumonia, foot-and-mouth disease, goat pox, lumpy skin disease, pasteurellosis, peste des petits ruminants, and/or sheep pox in any SSA country. Of the 2748 publications initially screened, 84 met our inclusion criteria and were analyzed. Most of the studies (n = 73, 87%) evaluated the effectiveness and/or profitability of vaccination, applied exclusively, applied jointly with, or compared to strategies like deworming, antimicrobial treatment, surveillance, feed supplementation, culling and dipping in reducing morbidity and/or mortality to livestock diseases. The effectiveness and/or profitability of antimicrobial treatment (n = 5), test and slaughter (n = 5), and use of lay animal health workers (n = 1) applied exclusively, were evaluated in the other studies. Vaccination was largely found to be both effective and with positive return on investment. Ineffective vaccination was mainly due to loss of vaccine potency under unfavorable field conditions like adverse weather events, cold chain failure, and mismatch of circulating pathogen strain and the vaccines in use.

In summary, vaccination is the most effective and profitable means of controlling infectious livestock diseases in SSA. However, to achieve effective control of these diseases, its implementation must integrate pathogen surveillance, and optimal vaccine delivery tools, to overcome the reported field challenges.

Investigation of major cattle production constraints in Kembata Tambaro zone of Southern Ethiopia using participatory epidemiology methods

Ethiopia has enormous livestock resources from which rural households derive their livelihoods. A cross-sectional study based on participatory appraisal methods was conducted in Kembata Tambaro zone to assess major constraints to livestock production and major diseases of cattle and their treatment options. Four districts were selected purposively for this study, and 18 peasant associations were randomly sampled from the selected districts. Focus group discussion, semistructured interviews, simple ranking and scoring, proportional piling, pairwise ranking, and matrix scoring were the participatory epidemiological tools used in the study. Feed and free grazing land shortages and diseases were found to be the major constraints to cattle production in the area. Mastitis was ranked as the most serious disease of cattle. Modern veterinary treatments are used alongside traditional herbal remedies. Matrix scoring showed strong agreement between focus groups in identifying the major diseases using their indicators (clinical signs). Hence, it was concluded that indigenous knowledge complemented with participatory methods and approaches allow community and field researchers to jointly study specific livestock problems and help identify appropriate solutions.

Anthelmintic administration to small ruminants in emergency drought responses: assessing the impact in two locations of northern Kenya

Internal parasites are a significant determinant of the productivity of ruminant species in the tropics. Provision of anthelmintics has become a predominant part of animal health interventions in emergency drought responses, aiming to maintain the food conversion efficiency of livestock when pasture is scarce. This study aimed to assess the owner-perceived impact of anthelmintic provision on the health and productivity of small ruminants in the drought-prone counties of Isiolo and Marsabit, northern Kenya. Participatory approaches were used to retrospectively measure differences in key indicators of livestock output before and after anthelmintic administration. Results showed that there was no perceived impact of anthelmintic administration during droughts on small ruminant health and productivity, but some benefit of anthelmintic administration during rainy season was perceived. The study also provided some evidence of potential differences in the epidemiology of internal parasites between the counties. These findings may be utilised to inform future livestock intervention programmes in drought-prone areas.

Livestock mortality in pastoralist herds in Ethiopia and implications for drought response

Participatory epidemiology methods were employed retrospectively in three pastoralist regions of Ethiopia to estimate the specific causes of excess livestock mortality during drought. The results showed that starvation/dehydration accounted for between 61.5 and 100 per cent of excess livestock mortality during drought, whereas disease-related mortality accounted for between 0 and 28.1 per cent of excess mortality. Field observations indicate that, in livestock, disease risks and mortality increase in the immediate post-drought period, during rain. The design of livelihoods-based drought response programmes should include protection of core livestock assets, and it should take account of the specific causes of excess livestock mortality during drought and immediately afterwards. This study shows that, when comparing livestock feed supplementation and veterinary support, relatively more aid should be directed at the former if the objective is to protect core livestock during drought. Veterinary support should consider disease-related mortality in the immediate post-drought period, and tailor inputs accordingly.