Strategies to Upgrade Animal Health Delivery in Village Poultry Systems: Perspectives of Stakeholders From Northern Ghana and Central Zones in Tanzania

The Public Health Importance and Management of Infectious Poultry Diseases in Smallholder Systems in Africa

Poultry diseases pose major constraints on smallholder production in Africa, causing high flock mortality and economic hardship. Infectious diseases, especially viral diseases like Newcastle disease and highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) and bacterial diseases, especially colibacillosis and salmonellosis, are responsible for most chicken losses, with downstream effects on human nutrition and health. Beyond production impacts, poultry diseases directly harm public health if zoonotic, can give rise to epidemics and pandemics, and facilitate antimicrobial resistance through treatment attempts. HPAI, campylobacteriosis, and salmonellosis are the priority zoonoses. Sustainable solutions for poultry health remain elusive despite recognition of the problem. This review summarises current knowledge on major poultry diseases in smallholder systems, their impacts, and options for prevention and control. We find biosecurity, vaccination, good husbandry, and disease-resistant breeds can reduce disease burden, but practical limitations exist in implementing these measures across smallholder systems. Treatment is often inefficient for viral diseases, and treatment for bacterial diseases risks antimicrobial resistance. Ethnoveterinary practices offer accessible alternatives but require more rigorous evaluation. Multisectoral collaboration and policies that reach smallholder poultry keepers are essential to alleviate disease constraints. Successful control will improve livelihoods, nutrition, and gender equity for millions of rural families. This review concludes that sustainable, scalable solutions for smallholder poultry disease control remain a critical unmet need in Africa.

Access to veterinary care: evaluating working definitions, barriers, and implications for animal welfare

Humans have a moral obligation to meet the physical and mental needs of the animals in their care. This requires access to resources such as veterinary care, which is integral to achieving animal welfare. However, "access" to veterinary care is not always homogenous across communities and currently lacks a consistent definition. The objectives of this scoping review were to (1) understand how "access" to veterinary care has been defined in the literature, (2) map a broad list of potential barriers that may influence access to veterinary care, and (3) identify how access to care impacts the welfare of companion and livestock animals. The literature search yielded a total of 1,044 publications, 77 of which were relevant to our inclusion criteria, and were published between 2002 and 2022. Studies were most frequently conducted in the United States (n = 17) and Canada (n = 11). Publications defining access to veterinary care (n = 10) or discussing its impacts on animal welfare (n = 13) were minimal. However, barriers to accessing veterinary care were thoroughly discussed in the literature (n = 69) and were categorized into ten themes according to common challenges and keywords, with financial limitations (n = 57), geographic location (n = 35), and limited personnel/equipment (n = 32) being the most frequently reported. The results of this scoping review informed our proposed definition of access to veterinary care. Additionally, our findings identified a need to further investigate several understudied barriers relating to access to care (i.e., veterinarian-client relationship, client identity) and to better understand how they potentially affect animal welfare outcomes.

Measuring Women's Empowerment in Agriculture: Innovations and evidence

This paper addresses women's empowerment in agriculture, innovations in its measurement, and emerging evidence. We discuss the evolution of the conceptualization and measurement of women's empowerment and gender equality since 2010. Using a gender and food systems framework and a standardized measure of women's empowerment, the Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI), we review the evidence on "what works" to empower women based on impact evaluations of a portfolio of 11 agricultural development projects with empowerment objectives and a scoping review of livestock interventions. We then review the evidence on associations between empowering women and societal benefits--agricultural productivity, incomes, and food security and nutrition. We conclude with recommendations for measurement and policy.

Poultry health constraints in smallholder village poultry systems in Northern Ghana and Central Tanzania

Introduction

Smallholder poultry production is a major contributor to food security and rural livelihoods in low-and middle-income countries. However, infectious diseases limit improvements to smallholder poultry production and performance of the sector in general. Infectious diseases of poultry, especially viral diseases, have major impacts on the health and productivity of flocks and account for significant morbidities and mortalities of birds each year.

Methods

This study utilized participatory epidemiology approaches to better understand the poultry health constraints and challenges faced by smallholder poultry producers in village poultry systems in Northern Ghana and Central Tanzania.

Results

The results show dominance of small-scale semi-intensive and extensive scavenging poultry production systems in the study areas. Newcastle disease ranked as the highest cause of morbidity and mortality in chickens in the two countries. The disease occurred mainly during the months coinciding with the dry season in both countries. Other health challenges among poultry flocks included worm infestation, fowl pox, coryza, and coccidiosis. Producers, especially in rural locations, had poor access to veterinary services and critical inputs necessary for poultry production. In the Northern region of Ghana, producers lacked definitive diagnoses for sick poultry due to a shortage of veterinary personnel and diagnostic laboratories.

Discussion

These challenges point to the need for increased investment in poultry disease control and prevention programs, particularly in rural areas. Interventions focused on expansion of veterinary and agricultural extension services and diagnostic laboratory capacity in rural areas and increased gender-sensitive training to enhance smallholder knowledge in poultry husbandry and disease prevention measures will support the development of the smallholder village poultry systems. Tapping into the diverse genetic reservoir of local chicken ecotypes with enhanced resistance to Newcastle disease through genomic selection, coupled with models for enhancing ND vaccination supply and use in the rural areas are potential future avenues for addressing ND constraints to production.

The global prevalence of highly pathogenic avian influenza A (H5N8) infection in birds: A systematic review and meta-analysis

The zoonotic pathogen avian influenza A H5N8 causes enormous economic losses in the poultry industry and poses a serious threat to the public health. Here, we report the first systematic review and meta-analysis of the worldwide prevalence of birds. We filtered 45 eligible articles from seven databases. A random-effects model was used to analyze the prevalence of H5N8 in birds. The pooled prevalence of H5N8 in birds was 1.6%. In the regions, Africa has the highest prevalence (8.0%). Based on the source, village (8.3%) was the highest. In the sample type, the highest prevalence was organs (79.7%). In seasons, the highest prevalence was autumn (28.1%). The largest prevalence in the sampling time was during 2019 or later (7.0%). Furthermore, geographical factors also were associated with the prevalence. Therefore, we recommend site-specific prevention and control tools for this strain in birds and enhance the surveillance to reduce the spread of H5N8.

Host response to successive challenges with lentogenic and velogenic Newcastle disease virus in local chickens of Ghana

Newcastle disease (ND) is a highly contagious viral disease that constantly threatens poultry production. The velogenic (highly virulent) form of ND inflicts the most damage and can lead to 100% mortality in unvaccinated village chicken flocks. This study sought to characterize responses of local chickens in Ghana after challenging them with lentogenic and velogenic Newcastle disease virus (NDV) strains. At 4 wk of age, chicks were challenged with lentogenic NDV. Traits measured were pre- and post-lentogenic infection growth rates (GR), viral load at 2 and 6 d post-lentogenic infection (DPI), viral clearance rate and antibody levels at 10 DPI. Subsequently, the chickens were naturally exposed to velogenic NDV (vNDV) after anti-NDV antibody titers had waned to levels ≤1:1,700. Body weights and blood samples were again collected for analysis. Finally, chickens were euthanized and lesion scores (LS) across tissues were recorded. Post-velogenic exposure GR; antibody levels at 21 and 34 days post-velogenic exposure (DPE); LS for trachea, proventriculus, intestines, and cecal tonsils; and average LS across tissues were measured. Variance components and heritabilities were estimated for all traits using univariate animal models. Mean pre- and post-lentogenic NDV infection GRs were 6.26 g/day and 7.93 g/day, respectively, but mean post-velogenic NDV exposure GR was −1.96 g/day. Mean lesion scores ranged from 0.52 (trachea) to 1.33 (intestine), with males having significantly higher (P < 0.05) lesion scores compared to females. Heritability estimates for the lentogenic NDV trial traits ranged from moderate (0.23) to high (0.55) whereas those for the vNDV natural exposure trial were very low (≤ 0.08). Therefore, in contrast to the vNDV exposure trial, differences in the traits measured in the lentogenic challenge were more affected by genetics and thus selection for these traits may be more feasible compared to those following vNDV exposure. Our results can form the basis for identifying local chickens with improved resilience in the face of NDV infection for selective breeding to improve productivity.

Women’s Empowerment and Livestock Vaccination: Evidence from Peste des Petits Ruminants Vaccination Interventions in Northern Ghana

Simple Summary

Small ruminants (goat and sheep) are key livestock species in supporting women’s empowerment (WE) in low- and middle-income countries. Animal vaccines are essential for livestock productivity, hence an important means to support WE. WE is, in turn, important for animal vaccine adoption. Little is known, however, of how WE is associated with animal vaccination for women-controlled livestock assets (e.g., goats and sheep). Our analysis explores the link between domains of WE and knowledge of, access to, and use of peste des petits ruminants (PPR) vaccines. Such knowledge can help inform the design of livestock vaccine systems that are better able to reach women and support their empowerment. Using a partial least squares structural equilibrium model (PLS-SEM), we analyzed data collected using the Women’s Empowerment in Livestock Index (WELI) tool from goat keepers in Northern Ghana, which included a module on the PPR vaccine. We found a strong direct positive association between women and men’s knowledge about animal health and PPR vaccination and a strong indirect positive association between access to PPR vaccines and empowerment. Moreover, women and men goat keepers differed in the dimensions of empowerment that the PPR vaccine facets were strongly associated with—asset ownership and input into decisions concerning livestock was significant for women but not for men. Consequently, policy and actions towards enhancing women’s asset ownership, input into decisions about livestock production, knowledge of animal health and vaccines, and access to vaccines are important in designing effective and equitable livestock vaccine systems.

Abstract

Healthy livestock provide meaningful opportunities to enhance women’s empowerment (WE) in low- and middle-income countries. Animal vaccines are important to keep livestock healthy and productive. However, gender-based restrictions limit women’s access to animal health services, thereby affecting the potential of livestock to enhance their empowerment. While growing empirical evidence reveals that women-controlled livestock (e.g., small ruminants) have important implications for WE and support better household nutrition outcomes, little empirical evidence exists from rigorous analyses of the relationship between WE and animal vaccines for women-controlled livestock species. Our analysis explores the relationship between WE and involvement with PPR vaccination in Ghana. Data collected using the Women’s Empowerment in Livestock Index (WELI) tool from 465 women and 92 men farmers (who keep goats) from northern Ghana, and analyzed using PLS-SEM, revealed a significant direct positive association between knowledge about animal health and PPR vaccines and a significant indirect positive association between access to PPR vaccines and empowerment. The empowerment of women goat farmers, as revealed by our model’s results for the relationship between empowerment and vaccine facets, was significantly represented by asset ownership and input into decisions concerning livestock. These study results reveal important considerations in designing effective and equitable livestock vaccine systems.

Access to Veterinary Drugs in Sub-Saharan Africa: Roadblocks and Current Solutions

Background

Access to veterinary drugs for livestock has become a major issue over the last decade. Analysis has tended to focus on the demand for these products, while studies looking at the drivers behind their use generally focus on farmer behavior and interactions between veterinarians and farmers. However, the use of drugs also depends on structural factors that determine the functioning of the drug supply chain and farmers' access to the drugs. This article presents an overview of the factors that limit access to veterinary drugs in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) as well as the international policy tools and arrangements that claim to improve it.

Methods

We have conducted a scoping review of the scientific and grey literature as well as the publicly-available data from both the animal health industry and international organizations. We aimed to gather information on the veterinary drugs market in SSA as well as on the international norms, recommendations, guidelines, and initiatives that impact SSA farmers' access to these drugs.

Findings

We highlight numerous barriers to veterinary drug access in SSA. The SSA market is highly dependent on imports, yet the region attracts little attention from the international companies capable of exporting to it. It suffers from a high level of fragmentation and weak distribution infrastructures and services, and is driven by the multiplication of private non-professional actors playing a growing role in the veterinary drug supply chain. The distribution system is increasingly dualized, with on the one hand the public sector (supported by development organizations) supplying small scale farmers in rural areas, but with limited and irregular means; and on the other side a private sector largely unregulated which supplies commercial and industrial farming systems. Different innovations have been developed at the international and regional levels to try to reduce barriers, such as homogenizing national legislations, donations, and vaccine banks. Alongside decades-old inter-state cooperation, many new forms of public-private partnerships and other hybrid forums continue to emerge, signaling the private sector's increasing influence in global governance.

Conclusions

Policies on animal health would be bolstered by a better understanding of the drivers behind and the components of access to veterinary drugs in different regional and national contexts. Inequalities in drug access need to be addressed and a market-driven approach adopted in order to strengthen our understanding of what determines veterinary drug use at the farm level. Policies should balance the interests of the various stakeholders, being careful not to reinforce bias toward certain diseases deemed "interesting" and neglect others that could prove to be highly important for veterinary public health.