Livestock farmers in Africa are facing enormous challenges in animal health. The capacity and infrastructure of government services for disease identification and control are often limited. In the absence of systematic surveillance systems for animal diseases, the information on pathogens affecting livestock has been filled by targeted surveys conducted in certain locations and for specific conditions. The picture provided by these ad hoc surveys can be distorted with a bias towards the most widely known diseases or towards those for which diagnostic methods are more readily available.
Participatory rural appraisals with cattle farmers in Tanzania have shown that disease in livestock is one of the main factors contributing to limited productivity and income generation. Often, the causes of livestock disease are unknown and differential diagnosis is not conducted resulting in mistreatment of animals and long-term negative economic impact.
This poster, prepared for the Tropentag 2014 conference, presents findings from a multipathogen survey conducted by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) among cattle farmers in two regions in Tanzania to confirm the presence of well-known cattle pathogens and to investigate the presence of cattle pathogens rarely looked for in the area before.
This week, ILRI staff are participating in the Tropentag 2014 International Conference in Prague (17-19 September 2014). There is also a dedicated ‘ILRI@40’ side event on ‘Livestock-based options for sustainable food and nutritional security and healthy lives.’ See all the posters.
ILRI BioSciences 