Enhancing livestock vaccination decision-making through rapid diagnostic testing

Ashley F Railey,Felix Lankester,Tiziana Lembo,Richard Reeve,Gabriel Shirima,Thomas L Marsh

doi:10.1016/j.wdp.2019.100144

Abstract

•Compared to vaccination, the collective approach to diagnostic testing presents a low-fixed cost.•Existing household livestock-health behaviors increase the likelihood for uptake of preventative health practices.•Initial evidence to support household investments in livestock preventative health over therapeutic treatments.

Highlights

Animal vaccination has the potential to indirectly improve household nutrition (Lankester et al, 2015) or translate into investments in human education and health (Marsh, Yoder, Deboch, McElwain, & Palmer, 2016) for the > 80 percent of poor livestock-keeping households living in extreme poverty in Africa (Otte et al, 2012)
For decision-making about infectious disease in humans and animals, early disease detection through diagnostic testing offers direct benefits to the individual by providing timely information regarding the necessity for future treatments and costs (Bonner, Monroe, Talley, Klasner, & Kimberlin, 2015; McKenna & Dohoo, 2006)
When disease control strategies that encompass local priorities are necessary to address the emergence of infectious disease (Halliday et al, 2017), assessing whether livestock-dependent households are willing to pay for early disease detection with public good implications offers valuable insight into household-driven control strategies broadly

Summary

Introduction

Animal vaccination has the potential to indirectly improve household nutrition (Lankester et al, 2015) or translate into investments in human education and health (Marsh, Yoder, Deboch, McElwain, & Palmer, 2016) for the > 80 percent of poor livestock-keeping households living in extreme poverty in Africa (Otte et al, 2012). Efforts to encourage animal vaccination target availability issues by training local community health workers to deliver vaccines (Mariner et al, 2012) and promote accessibility through financial incentives that reduce the cost of the vaccine for livestock owners (Jibat, Hogeveen, & Mourits, 2015). Despite these efforts, households underinvest in livestock vaccines.

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Conclusion