Abstract
This study was conducted to determine animal health constraints for dairy goats kept by small-scale farmers in Kongwa and Mvomero districts, Tanzania. A total of 129 dairy goats belonging to 108 farmers were screened for gastrointestinal nematode (GIN) infection, coccidiosis, haemoparasites, brucellosis and contagious caprine pleuropneumonia (CCPP) over a period of 11 months. Other clinical diseases and mortalities were recorded. The goats used were Norwegian crosses and Toggenburg crosses. The mean prevalence of GIN infection and coccidiosis in all goats were 54.8 and 57.4%, respectively. Prevalence of GIN infection was higher (P ≤ 0.05) during the rainy months than in the dry months, but the prevalence of coccidiosis did not differ (P > 0.05) between the dry and rainy seasons. The EPG in goats did not differ (P > 0.05) between Kongwa (169.79 ± 0.03 EPG) and Mvomero (171.51 ± 0.04 EPG) districts, but the OPG differed significantly (P ≤ 0.05) with values of 793.15 ± 0.04 (Kongwa) and 364.02 ± 0.05 (Mvomero). The prevalence of CCPP in the goats was 26.4%. Other clinical diseases included respiratory diseases, infectious keratoconjunctivitis and orf (scabby lesions around mouth and nostrils). Both tests for haemoparasites and brucellosis indicated negative results for all goats tested. Mortality rate during the study period was 15.5% and the major causes of deaths were respiratory diseases, bloat and food poisoning. In conclusion, gastrointestinal nematodes are prevalent in both districts, but the burdens are relatively low to justify mass treatment. The Norwegian goats are more susceptible to GIN infection and coccidiosis compared to Toggenburg goats. Key words: Coccidiosis, diseases, gastrointestinal nematodes, mortality, Norwegian goats, Toggenburg goats.
Highlights
In Tanzania, promotion of small-scale dairy goat production for poverty alleviation and combating malnutrition malnutrition started in early 1980s
Small East African (SEA) goats were obtained from Babati district, Manyara region in northern Tanzania, which has a drier climate while the crosses of Norwegian goats with the SEA goats were obtained from Mgeta division, which is located on the slopes of the Uluguru Mountains in Morogoro region and has a cool mountain climate
The present study has demonstrated that dairy goats in the study areas are infected with gastrointestinal nematodes throughout the year, despite the fact that they are kept indoors
Summary
In Tanzania, promotion of small-scale dairy goat production for poverty alleviation and combating malnutrition malnutrition started in early 1980s. Since the number of dairy goats in the country has increased mainly. The number of dairy goats in the country is estimated at 419,533 (United Republic of Tanzania (URT), 2012) and are predominantly kept by smallholder farmers in rural areas, especially women. Dairy goat production under smallholder production system is constrained by many factors, including poor husbandry practices, inadequate nutrition and disease challenges. The most common diseases affecting small ruminants in different parts of Tanzania are gastrointestinal parasitism, respiratory infections (especially pneumonic pasteurellosis and contagious caprine pleuropneumonia (CCPP)) and contagious ecthyma (Mtenga and Kusiluka, 1997; Kusiluka, 2002; Magona and Musisi, 2002). Some vector-borne diseases such as Rift valley fever (RVF) and bluetongue are associated with epidemic episodes (Sindato et al, 2011; Swai and Schoonman, 2009)
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