Controlling Animal Disease in Africa

Abstract

Africa presents a number of unique challenges in the field of animal health, which distinguishes the continent from many other regions of the world. Africa is home to a diverse range of agro-ecological and production systems, with significant interactions between them that are mediated by several elements: the movements of wildlife and pastoralist cattle; the endemic presence of disease vectors such as ticks, flies, and mosquitoes; the variability in climate that can accentuate conditions favorable for disease spread; and the contrasting market relationships and interactions between smallholder and commercial systems alike. Moreover, there is significant heterogeneity in the capacity, resources, and incentives of actors within the different livestock value chains, including producers, traders, market agents, processors, retailers, and support services (including government), to mitigate disease which, given these ecological and market interactions, further complicates effective disease control efforts by the public and private sectors (Rich and Perry 2011a). Declining public budgets allocated to animal health and often erratic donor priorities toward specific diseases muddle the situation even more (Winter-Nelson and Rich 2008).