Livestock Disease Control Research Articles

SOSIALISASI KESEHATAN TERNAK DI DESA KONDOANO KECAMATAN MOWILA KABUPATEN KONAWE SELATAN

The Community Service Activity of Halu Oleo University Thematic KKN lecturers in 2024 aims to provide information to livestock farmers in Kondoano Village, Mowila District, South Konawe Regency, regarding livestock health and disease control. The activity lasted for one month, from July to August 2024, and included socialization of livestock health which was carried out in two stages: preparation and implementation. The results of the activity showed high enthusiasm from the participants, with farmers actively participating in the question and answer session about livestock health and potential diseases. This socialization provided new knowledge to farmers regarding livestock health and how to handle it, which contributed to reducing livestock disease and mortality. Livestock health is an important factor in the development of livestock businesses, and by ensuring livestock health, farmers can operate without obstacles.

An Overview of Artificial Insemination: A Journey from Past to Present

Artificial insemination (AI) has a rich history spanning centuries, beginning with early experiments in plant and animal reproduction. This article traces the development of AI from its earliest recorded instances in 1322 A.D. to modern-day advancements. Notable pioneers such as Spallanzani, Hunter, and Ivanoff contributed significantly to the evolution of AI techniques. The introduction of AI across various animal species, including cattle, horses, sheep, goats, pigs, and poultry, revolutionized breeding practices worldwide. Key milestones include the development of semen extenders, the invention of artificial vaginas for semen collection, and the advent of cryopreservation techniques. Moreover, advancements in sperm quality assessment and estrous synchronization further enhanced AI efficiency. The introduction of sexed semen technology has provided a means to control offspring gender, offering new avenues for genetic selection. Overall, AI has played a crucial role in improving livestock genetics, disease control, and reproductive efficiency, making significant contributions to agricultural productivity and sustainability.

Can conservation-based incentives promote willingness of local communities to coexist with wildlife? A case of Burunge Wildlife Management Area, Northern Tanzania

ABSTRACT Globally, conservation-based incentives (CBIs) are perceived as effective tools for enhancing human–wildlife coexistence. This study investigated whether CBIs could improve willingness of local communities around Burunge Wildlife Management Area (BWMA) to coexist with wildlife. We conducted a questionnaire survey which was orally administered to 150 households from three villages participating in the BWMA. Providing social services like education, healthcare, and livestock disease control increased the community’s willingness to coexist with wildlife by 60%. Gender, occupation and time of residence were significant predictors explaining the observed 27.4% variation in the willingness to coexist with wildlife. Women involved in small businesses were more receptive to CBIs if they received training on protecting their property from wildlife. People who lived in the area for a longer time showed higher tolerance for wildlife-related challenges. We recommend implementing effective CBIs to enhance coexistence and developing measures to minimize crop losses caused by wildlife.

TRAINING NEEDS ANALYSIS OF WOMEN IN AGRICULTURE (WIA) EXTENSION OFFICERS IN KANO STATE, NIGERIA.

The study analysed the training needs of Women in Agriculture (WIA) extension officers in Kano State, Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to purposively select two local government areas (LGAs) from the three agro-ecological zones in Kano based on the intensity of the WIA officers, making a total of six LGAs for the study. From the six LGAs, 74 WIA officers were randomly selected for the study. Data were collected through the use of structured questionnaires and analysed using frequency counts, percentages, and the mean. Results revealed that the average age of the women was 34 years, 56.8% were married, and the average household size was 9 people. 50.0% of the respondents had secondary school education and averaged 8 years of working experience as extension agents. The study further revealed that the majority of the women (95.9%) received training on crop production technology and (64.9%) on marketing agricultural commodities. It was also revealed that the WIA needs training on livestock production and disease control, ICT in agriculture, and fish farming. Conclusively, WIA officers competently perform their job in the demonstration of improved technologies and the dissemination of information. It is therefore recommended that women extension officers be trained and provided with training facilities based on their requirements.

Defining correlates of protection for mammalian livestock vaccines against high-priority viral diseases.

Enhancing livestock biosecurity is critical to safeguard the livelihoods of farmers, global and local economies, and food security. Vaccination is fundamental to the control and prevention of exotic and endemic high-priority infectious livestock diseases. Successful implementation of vaccination in a biosecurity plan is underpinned by a strong understanding of correlates of protection-those elements of the immune response that can reliably predict the level of protection from viral challenge. While correlates of protection have been successfully characterized for many human viral vaccines, for many high-priority livestock viral diseases, including African swine fever and foot and mouth disease, they remain largely uncharacterized. Current literature provides insights into potential correlates of protection that should be assessed during vaccine development for these high-priority mammalian livestock viral diseases. Establishment of correlates of protection for biosecurity purposes enables immune surveillance, rationale for vaccine development, and successful implementation of livestock vaccines as part of a biosecurity strategy.

Selected issues of risk management in livestock production

This article presents the findings of a review study conducted using the snowba l l ing te chnique. Its primary goal is in-depth analysis of six important, in the author’s subjective opinion, issues concerning risk management in livestock production. The starting point for consideration is the observation that livestock farmers are confronted with various risks that can ultimately (when they materialise) impair their economic and financial situation. However, the most serious threat lies in animal diseases and epidemics, which can also adversely affect the states’ budgetary situation, as well as the supply of animal products and their quality and prices. In this context, both farmers and public authorities should have appropriate economic models in place to control animal health and diseases, an overview of which are provided in this article. However, for the models to be used effectively, all stakeholders should, at minimum, have general knowledge of the sources of risks, their perception and the attitudes of agricultural producers themselves towards them, so the article analyses these categories as well. We also present the formal aspect of production and price risk modelling to address, among others, the reasons for the low uptake of traditional insurance in livestock production. Following this, the practical and political recommendation that every country should have a holistic risk management system for livestock rearing and breeding, which is also the main conclusion of the analysis, is reliably documented. Of course, such system should be continuously improved, and it is also highly desirable that it is gradually supported by complex models of system dynamics. Key words: economic models for livestock health and disease control, risk in livestock production, insurance in livestock production, risk management in livestock production

Assessing farmer willingness to participate in a subsidized veterinary herd health management program.

Zoonoses, such as COVID-19, can cause pandemics with many fatalities. Therefore, livestock keepers should attach great importance to livestock disease control. Veterinarians can support farmers in this task through a structured veterinary herd health management (VHHM) program. The dissemination of these programs remained low, and Swiss policy makers planned to launch a subsidy program for VHHM. To inform policy making ex-ante, a survey of 1600 Swiss dairy farmers was conducted to determine whether they are willing to participate and how much they are willing to pay. Contingent evaluation with a discrete choice format elicited willingness to pay (WTP). As a rather high share of farmers who would not participate was expected, a spike model was applied with a single-bounded discrete choice (SBDC) model. Only 47% of the farmers had a positive WTP. Mean WTP in the SBDC was CHF 10.47 per cow and year and in the spike model CHF 57.96. Participation would increase with higher subsidy levels. If the government pays 20% of the costs and farmers pay CHF 96 per cow per year, 23.6% of farms would participate. If the subsidy increases to 80% (CHF 24 for farmers), 40.4% would participate. A logistic regression indicates younger and older farmers, those with lower veterinary costs, and those who consider VHHM relevant only for farms with problems are less likely to participate.

Relationship between animal health and livestock farmers’ wellbeing in Ghana: beyond zoonoses

IntroductionLivestock production is a key livelihood source for many people in developing countries. Poor control of livestock diseases hamper livestock productivity, threatening farmers’ wellbeing and food security. This study estimates the effect of livestock mortalities attributable to disease on the wellbeing of livestock farmers.MethodsOverall, 350 ruminant livestock farmers were randomly selected from three districts located in the north, middle and southern belts of Ghana. Mixed-effect linear regression models were used to estimate the relationship between animal health and farmer wellbeing. Farmer wellbeing was assessed using the WHOQOL-BREF tool, as the mean quality-of-life in four domains (physical, psychological, social, and environmental). Animal health was assessed as annual livestock mortalities to diseases adjusted for herd size, and standardized in tropical livestock units to account for different ruminant livestock species. We adjusted for the potential confounding effect of farmers’ age, sex, educational attainment, farmland size, socio-economic status, perception of disease risk to herd, satisfaction with health, previous experience of disease outbreaks in herds, and social support availability by including these as fixed effects, and community as random effects, in a pre-specified model.ResultsOur results showed that farmers had a median score of 65.5 out of 100 (IQR: 56.6 to 73.2) on the wellbeing scale. The farmers’ reported on average (median) 10% (IQR: 0 to 23) annual herd mortalities to diseases. There was a significantly negative relationship between increasing level of animal disease-induced mortality in herds and farmers’ wellbeing. Specifically, our model predicted an expected difference in farmers’ wellbeing score of 7.9 (95%CI 1.50 to 14.39) between a farmer without any herd mortalities to diseases compared to a (hypothetical) farmer with 100% of herd mortalities caused by diseases in a farming year. Thus, there is a reduction of approximately 0.8 wellbeing points of farmers, for the average of 10% disease-induced herd mortalities experienced.ConclusionsDisease-induced livestock mortalities have a significant negative effect on farmers’ wellbeing, particularly in the physical and psychological domains. This suggests that veterinary service policies addressing disease risks in livestock, could contribute to improving the wellbeing of livestock dependent populations, and public food security.

A community-based approach to livestock disease control in Subang Regency, West Java Province, Indonesia

Livestock is a leading commodity in Subang Regency. Besides, Subang is one of the national priority commodity development areas for beef cattle. An innovative way is required to handle resource constraints and achieve the targeted goals. The research describes the community-based livestock disease control innovation, “Paket Hemat”, in Subang Regency, West Java Province, Indonesia. It used the case study method. Data was collected using documentation studies and interviews. This innovation unites and empowers the community of breeders in Subang Regency. The breeders were trained to become skilled in maintaining their livestock’s health and provide initial treatment when they have an illness, supervised by the Livestock and Animal Health Agency. Veterinarians or paramedics will handle further medical assistance if the initial treatment cannot overcome the problems. In 2017, 60 breeders were trained, and this increased to 120 breeders from 30 sub-districts in 2020. The evaluation results showed a decrease in livestock disease and an increase in livestock population from 2018 to 2020 in Subang Regency. Better livestock health status can increase livestock productivity and breeders’ welfare. Thus, disease control can reinforce the livestock’s role in poverty reduction and improve people’s welfare.

Potential of Information Communication Technology (ICT) in Livestock Development: A Review

In most developing nations, including India, agricultural extension services are mostly focused on crop husbandry, but public sector animal husbandry activities are frequently dominated by animal breeding and health services. ICT has been widely employed in the study and enhancement of numerous elements of livestock production, research, and education in the United States and worldwide. Specifically, ICT is becoming more important in livestock disease control, dairy herd management, livestock production, and livestock and livestock product marketing. However, the success of ICT in livestock promotion or related areas is dependent on a number of factors, including farmer adoption of ICT, the political and policy environment, farmer education, ICT penetration rate, ICT infrastructure (such as connectivity), and the Rural Information Model etc. So, this paper throws light on the points of such capabilities of ICT for Livestock Development.

Integration and adoption of climate resilient management practices for enhanced productivity of sheep and goats in pastoral communities of Northern Kenya

Interventions to improve productivity in pastoral livestock systems of northern Kenya focus on the management of the rangeland resources and grazing areas with few initiatives on changes related to the livestock assets. However, changing climatic conditions with high frequencies of droughts have increased the vulnerability of pastoral communities and necessitate prompt interventions in animal management practices. In 2018, the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Irrigation in collaboration with the International Livestock Research Institute commenced a programme to build the resilience of pastoral holdings using their animal assets rather than depending on humanitarian emergency responses. Interventions necessitated changes in management practices related to sheep and goat production. Core innovation groups (CIG) each comprising 30 pastoral households in select communities were established to model new practices for wider adoption using participatory processes in Isiolo, Marsabit and Turkana Counties. CIG members went through a 3-year phased training programme on animal management practices for more efficient, resilient and productive animals. The adoption of new practices in CIG flocks was monitored by extension personnel. Data were analysed using logistic regression techniques to assess household-level adoption of livestock breed improvement, feeding and disease control interventions. The 3 years of the programme (2018–2021) were relatively satisfactory in terms of pasture availability; hence, communities pursued strategies to enhance their flocks. All CIG adopted more than one of the introduced technologies concurrently. Prevention of diseases was the most readily adopted, followed by crossbreeding using indigenous breeds of sheep and goats from other arid areas of Kenya. Turkana County had the lowest probability of adopting any of the technologies as previous devastating droughts have resulted in an increased emphasis on animals for survival rather than productivity. The study shows that pastoral communities are open to technological interventions for animal productivity. Adoption of the technologies was enhanced by the experiential capacity development activities adapted to the education level of the different communities.

구제역 발생에 따른 축산물 유통단계별 가격변화 분석

This study analyzed the effect of FMD on the prices of livestock products at each distribution stage. Through the sentiment analysis of FMD from 2005 to 2020, the Media tone index was used as a proxy variable to conduct VECM analysis. In particular, the long-term and short-term impact relationships were compared and analyzed, focusing on before and after the introduction of the Korea Animal Health Integrated System (KAHIS), which prepared the government’s systematic response system for epidemic prevention and control of livestock diseases. As a result of the analysis, after the introduction of the KAHIS, the positive media reports gradually increased in the media tone index on livestock epidemics. In addition, it was found that the adjustment of the livestock product distribution policy and food safety management system contributed to reducing the range of price fluctuations at each distribution stage.

An update on prevention and control of livestock diseases in India

Millions of farmers keep livestock for the purpose of milk production, and every year a wide variety of diseases, some of which can be fatal, cause illness in these animals. Even cattle and buffalo that have a significant threat of disease transmission. They are among the most susceptible people to the introduction of zoonotic diseases into the human population. Milk is in danger of running out in the not too distant future since both consumer demand and the dairy business are both on the rise. Dairy products are progressively used in more and more foods. Farmers take a financial hit each year as a result of illnesses that affect milking dairy animals; the scale of these losses can approach millions of dollars at the national level. At both the state and the national level, there needs to be a diseases control policy in order to put a stop to the losses. In addition to this, the tight interaction that exists between humans and the animals that they have domesticated presents the highest risk of the spread of a range of infectious diseases. The state animal department and the government of India need to conduct an active review of the situation across the state because the number of households that have milk animals has increased. They should also give the process of establishing new rules and putting them into practice the utmost significance, both with the purpose of strengthening the regulation of diseases that are prevalent among the population and with the purpose of reducing the risk of zoonotic transmission. The purpose of this review is to identify and put into effect those measures that will contribute significantly to the eradication of the cattle illnesses that are most prevalent. In this review, we provide a summary of the most prevalent livestock diseases, probable zoonotic diseases, and developing diseases, as well as present and potential regulations that ought to be put into place.

Elasticity and substitutability of food demand and emerging disease risk on livestock farms.

Disease emergence in livestock is a product of environment, epidemiology and economic forces. The environmental factors contributing to novel pathogen emergence in humans have been studied extensively, but the two-way relationship between farm microeconomics and outbreak risk has received comparably little attention. We introduce a game-theoretic model where farmers produce and sell two goods, one of which (e.g. pigs, poultry) is susceptible to infection by a pathogen. We model market and epidemiological effects at both the individual farm level and the community level. We find that in the case of low demand elasticity for livestock meat, the presence of an animal pathogen causing production losses can lead to a bistable system where two outcomes are possible: (i) successful disease control or (ii) maintained disease circulation, where farmers slaughter their animals at a low rate, face substantial production losses, but maintain large herds because of the appeal of high meat prices. Our observations point to the potentially critical effect of price elasticity of demand for livestock products on the success or failure of livestock disease control policies. We show the potential epidemiological benefits of (i) policies aimed at stabilizing livestock product prices, (ii) subsidies for alternative agricultural activities during epidemics, and (iii) diversifying agricultural production and sources of proteins available to consumers.

Sustainable Goals for Achieving Disease Control in Livestock and Animal Industry

Sustainable Goals for Achieving Disease Control in Livestock and Animal Industry

A systematic literature review on the economic impact of endemic disease in UK sheep and cattle using a One Health conceptualisation

Endemic sheep and cattle diseases represent a constant strain and impact to animal health and welfare, the environment, public health, and the economy. Quantifying this impact helps to inform decisions on surveillance and control of livestock diseases. This systematic literature review had two objectives; to describe the economic impact of endemic sheep and cattle diseases in the United Kingdom using a broad conceptualisation of impact, and to investigate what variables (e.g. medication costs, loss of production) and methods are included in these calculations. The Prisma protocol for systematic literature reviews was followed. Searches were performed in Pubmed, Scopus and Web of Science using selected and trialled search terms. A total of 1129 papers were identified and screened for relevancy; 38 papers were selected for full review extracting and analysing data on disease, impact and methods. From this final selection of papers it was found that; 1) research in this area is mainly focused on the dairy sub-sector, 2) the most mentioned diseases were mastitis and lameness in dairy cattle; bovine viral diarrhoea in beef cattle; and ectoparasites in sheep with reported animal-level costs of £ 77-£ 548/cow/year, £ 26-£ 185/bovine animal/year and £ 40-£ 47/ewe/year, respectively, 3) numerous methods and variables were used to calculate or estimate the economic impact with most studies focussing on the direct producer impacts and less on the wider implications and affected stakeholders; and 4) it was common for studies to look at one disease in isolation rather than consider disease impact on the farm as a whole. It is recommended that future economic impact calculations on livestock disease include wider implications to estimate the true cost of disease. To generate the necessary data, a wider, more inclusive conceptualisation of impact will be needed to support the collection of data and facilitate communication between stakeholders. Systematic health data recording combined with assessment calculations and metrics that allow comparability within or across livestock sub-sectors will increase the informative value of these impact calculations.

Associations between Gastrointestinal Nematode Infection Burden and Lying Behaviour as Measured by Accelerometers in Periparturient Ewes.

Simple SummaryNovel sensor technologies have great potential to improve animal health and welfare on farms by identifying disease early in livestock. These technologies are yet to be widely applied in sheep flocks despite their great potential to aid control of costly disease such as those caused by parasitic infection. In this study, leg-attached accelerometer sensors recorded the behaviour of 54 ewes in late pregnancy, with the aim of discovering if gastrointestinal nematode (GIN) infection levels were associated with behavioural variation. It was found that ewes laid down more often on average when infected with increasing numbers of GIN. Each lying bout was also shorter in length on average in ewes infected with higher levels of GIN. The results demonstrate that ewe behaviour can be an indication of parasite infection levels, and thus automated monitoring of sheep behaviour could allow animals to be treated efficiently against GIN in the future, maximising animal health and minimising production losses.The application of precision livestock farming (PLF) technologies will underpin new strategies to support the control of livestock disease. However, PLF technology is underexploited within the sheep industry compared to other livestock sectors, and research is essential to identify opportunities for PLF applications. These opportunities include the control of endemic sheep disease such as parasitic gastroenteritis, caused by gastrointestinal nematode infections, which is estimated to cost the European sheep industry EUR 120 million annually. In this study, tri-axial accelerometers recorded the behaviour of 54 periparturient Welsh Mule ewes to discover if gastrointestinal nematode (GIN) infection burden, as measured by faecal egg count (FEC), was associated with behavioural variation. Linear mixed models identified that increasing FECs in periparturient ewes were significantly associated with a greater number of lying bouts per day and lower bout durations (p = 0.013 and p = 0.010, respectively). The results demonstrate that FECs of housed periparturient ewes are associated with detectable variations in ewe behaviour, and as such, with further investigation there is potential to develop future targeted selective treatment protocols against GIN in sheep based on behaviour as measured by PLF technologies.

Livestock Disease Prevention and Control Management System in Financial Venture Capital

Livestock Disease Prevention and Control Management System in Financial Venture Capital

From policy to practice: An assessment of biosecurity practices in cattle, sheep and goats production, marketing and slaughter in Baringo County, Kenya.

Globally, biosecurity is instrumental in prevention, control and management of livestock diseases and protection of human health. It is defined, prescribed, adopted and enforced through global, regional and national frameworks, laws, policies and strategies. There is more biosecurity practice research conducted in developed countries than developing ones. Consequently, the gap between the ideals recommended in biosecurity frameworks and what is practical in under-resourced rural settings is poorly understood. This anthropological study sought to assess adoption of biosecurity practices across a cattle, sheep and goat value chains continuum to demonstrate where risks lie. The cross-sectional mixed-methods study took place in Baringo County, Kenya. Qualitatively, it utilized 26 focus group discussions with community members and 10 observational interviews with slaughter facility workers. Quantitatively, it included a household survey with 560 community members and a separate survey with 231 livestock traders. Results show that producers, traders and slaughter facility workers did observe some biosecurity practices but not others due but not limited to personal preference, limitations in veterinary service delivery and enforcement of some biosecurity measures, and lack of requisite infrastructure. The study concludes that the implementation of biosecurity measures in rural settings is more complex than envisioned in biosecurity policies and frameworks. It can be hampered by resource limitations, poor enforcement, and contestations with cultural practices. The study recommends that further studies on willingness to adopt biosecurity measures targeting community members in under-resourced settings be conducted to identify possible critical points of intervention at county and national levels.

Immunological Evaluation of Goats Immunized with a Commercial Vaccine against Johne's Disease.

Johne’s disease affects ruminants causing an economic burden to dairy, meat and wool industries. Vaccination against Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (Map), which causes Johne’s disease, is a primary intervention for disease control in livestock. Previously, a comprehensive, multi-institutional vaccine trial for Johne’s disease was conducted to test the efficacy of live attenuated Map strains. Here, we report the humoral and cell-mediated immune responses from kid goats enrolled in that trial. Both vaccinated and unvaccinated animals showed IFN-γ stimulation and proliferation of T cell subpopulations on challenge with Map. CD4+, CD25+ and γδ cells from cultured PBMCs in the vaccinated goats showed significantly greater proliferation responses on stimulation with Map antigens. The increase in CD44+ and decrease in CD62L+ cells suggest that vaccine administration reduced the inflammatory responses associated with Map infection. Overall, a stronger antibody response was observed in the infected goats as compared to vaccinated goats. Two independent experimental approaches were used to identify differences in the antibody responses of vaccinated and unvaccinated goats. The first approach involved screening a phage expression library with pooled serum from infected goats, identifying previously reported Map antigens, including MAP_1272c and MAP_1569. However, three specific antigens detected only by vaccinated goats were also identified in the library screens. A second approach using dot blot analysis identified two additional differentially reacting proteins in the vaccinated goats (MAP_4106 and MAP_4141). These immunological results, combined with the microbiological and pathological findings obtained previously, provide a more complete picture of Johne’s disease control in goats vaccinated against Map.