Prioritization of livestock diseases by pastoralists in Oloitoktok Sub County, Kajiado County, Kenya.

INTRODUCTION: Livestock diseases are a big challenge for the livelihood of pastoralists in sub-Saharan Africa because they reduce livestock productivity and increase mortality. Based on the literature available there is limited understanding on how pastoralists prioritize these diseases in the context of their culture, ecosystems and livelihoods. A study was conducted to provide insights on lay prioritization of animal diseases by pastoralists in Kenya. METHODOLOGY: A qualitative study was undertaken between March and July 2021. Thirty in-depth interviews and six focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted with community members to explore community attitudes on livestock diseases prioritization. Male and female livestock keepers were purposively selected and interviewed and they were all long-term residents of the area. Fourteen key informant interviews (KIIs) were conducted with professionals from different key sectors to provide detailed stakeholder perspectives on livestock diseases. The interviews were analyzed thematically using the QSR Nvivo software to identify the emerging themes related to the study objectives. RESULTS: The pastoralists prioritized livestock diseases based on effect on their economic wellbeing, cultural values and utilization of ecosystem services. There were gender variabilities in how diseases were prioritized among the pastoralists. Men cited high priority diseases as foot and mouth disease and contagious bovine pleuropneumonia due to their regular occurrence and effect on livelihood. Notably, women regarded coenuruses as very important because it affected sheep and goats with a high mortality rate and lumpy skin disease because it rendered the meat from the carcasses inedible. Malignant catarrhal fever and trypanosomiasis were noted as some of the common diseases in the livestock-wildlife interface but not cited as priority diseases. Challenges related to disease control in pastoralist contexts exist including limited access to livestock treatment services, inadequate information on disease impact and complex environmental factors. CONCLUSION: This study sheds light on the body of knowledge in Kenya regarding livestock diseases and their prioritization by livestock keepers. This could aid in the development of a common disease control framework and prioritization at the local level which would take into consideration the dynamic socio-cultural, ecological, livelihood and economic contexts of the communities.

Knowledge, perceptions, and practices around zoonotic diseases among actors in the livestock trade in the Lake Victoria crescent ecosystem in East Africa.

Background: Zoonotic diseases such as anthrax, rabies, brucellosis, and Rift Valley fever pose a direct threat to health and undercut livelihoods in the communities in which they occur. A combination of anthropogenic and animal activities like migration and interaction with wildlife and their respective parasites and vectors drives the emergence and re-emergence of zoonotic diseases. Consequently, One Health interdisciplinary approaches that incorporate social scientists can provide key insights into complex local perceptions. The approach calls for collaboration between the human and animal health sectors, including the sharing of disease surveillance data necessary to alleviate disease impacts. Livestock traders interact closely with livestock, which puts them at elevated risk of infection and creates conditions by which they may spread zoonotic disease. It is thus essential to examine practices among actors involved in the livestock trade to understand the most appropriate ways to mitigate these risks. Methods: A qualitative study was conducted among the actors in the livestock trade in Busia County on their knowledge and perceptions of zoonotic diseases and practices that may contribute to the spread, control, and prevention of zoonotic disease transmission. A thematic analysis framework was used to categorize and synthesize data from in-depth interviews (IDIs), key informant interviews (KIIs), and structured observations. Results: Whereas participants could list livestock diseases, they could not identify which ones were zoonoses, demonstrating insufficient knowledge of zoonosis. They identify sick animals by checking for dropped ears, excess mucus production, diarrhea, bloody urinal discharge, and general animal activity levels. To prevent the spread of these diseases, they wash their animals, isolate sick animals from the rest of the stock, and vaccinate their animals. They seek help from animal health professionals for sick animals as part of curative practices. This shows that they perceive the diseases as serious and that they need to be attended to by professionals. The results also show that they perceive animals from outside the region to be more vulnerable to diseases compared to those from within. The actors in the livestock trade engage in practices like skinning dead animals before burying them; to them, this is a normal practice. Some also consume dead carcasses. These increase the risk of zoonotic disease transmission. Conclusion: The actors involved in the livestock trade are critical in the prevention and elimination of zoonotic diseases; hence, they need to be involved when developing intervention programs and policies for animal health extension services. Training them as a continuum of animal health workers blends lay and professional knowledge, which, alongside their intense contact with large numbers of animals, becomes a critical disease surveillance tool. Increasing awareness of zoonoses by using multi-disciplinary teams with social scientists is urgently needed so that practices like skinning dead animals before disposing of them and consumption of dead carcasses can be minimized.