Tanzania study leads to new ideas for treating cattle disease
Scientists have teamed with farmers from rural areas of Tanzania to track dozens of herds of cattle using satellite GPS (Global Positioning System) devices, to understand how diseases can pass from one herd to another.
The study, led by the University of Glasgow and published in Scientific Reports, will provide what its authors have called an important step in understanding how to develop effective strategies for controlling disease.
Livestock conditions such as foot-and-mouth disease, peste des petits ruminants (ovine rinderpest) and anthrax are just a few that continue to plague sub-Saharan Africa, they said.
However, the results of the study suggest that targeted interventions at specific locations and at specific times could reduce the burden of these diseases and would require fewer resources than blanket vaccination programmes.
Nearly 85% of the world’s extreme poor reside in sub-Saharan Africa, the authors said, with livestock one of the primary means for people’s livelihoods. In some low-income countries, the livestock sector contributes up to 80% of agriculture’s share of the gross domestic product.
Diseases severely impact the health and productivity of livestock in many areas, magnifying the burden of poverty and threatening food security. Where livestock herds mix on open rangeland, such as in many traditionally managed systems, the burden of these diseases remains particularly acute.
The study found that the cattle moved surprisingly long distances each day, to and from shared grazing lands, at an average of 7.5 kilometres, with occasional movements up to 12 kilometres. The riskiest places are those where animals congregate for extended periods, such as at water holes and cattle plunge dips, where livestock are treated for parasites such as ticks.
