Assessment of knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to the prevalence of sheep scab among communal sheep farmers in Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

Background and Aim: Sheep scab is one of the most contagious diseases of sheep found in rural communities worldwide and is a major health and welfare concern for sheep farming. Information on the attitudes of communal farmers to sheep scab remains speculative in the Eastern Cape Province. This study aimed to investigate knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to the prevalence of sheep scab among communal sheep farmers in Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Materials and Methods: From June to August 2022, a cross-sectional survey using a semi-structured questionnaire (n = 160) was conducted in two rural communities of the Enoch Mgijima Local Municipality in Eastern Cape Province. Purpose sampling was used to obtain respondents’ knowledge, attitudes, and management practices regarding sheep scabs. Results: Among respondents, 81% were males and 19% were females. The majority of sheep farmers (59%) in both communities were aware of sheep scabs, but the majority (64%) did not receive any farming training. The majority of sheep farmers (65%) believed that sheep scab was the most serious threat to their sheep production since it increased mortality. In the past 3 years, approximately 57% of respondents reported an increase in the prevalence of sheep scab. The majority of farmers reported wool loss as the most noticeable clinical symptom (73%). More than 80% of sheep farmers do not use acaricide on a regular basis. Sixty-one percent of farmers prefer a pour-on topical application method. The frequency of annual dipping was every fortnight (40%), during summer and winter (24%). Most farmers (66%) regularly vaccinate their sheep. Conclusion: The prevalence of sheep scab is increasing in these communities; however, a better understanding of the factors that facilitate its transmission is required to allow improved management and control of this disease. The government must involve extension officers and distribute them to disseminate information to farmers. Thus, it will be easy to translate the literature into action

Ticks, demographics, vegetation cover, and farmer’s age influence red meat production in resource-poor regions of Eastern Cape Province of South Africa

This study presents an integrated examination of livestock production constraints associating with communal farming in six district municipalities (DMs) of the Eastern Cape Province. We collected data on demographic and socio-economic factors from 271 farmers randomly given questionnaires. About 26 Land Redistribution for Agricultural Development (LRAD) owned by communal farmers were surveyed to ascertain the condition of grazing land, meanwhile, tick species and distribution on cattle and goats found in 158 sampling sites of the study area were also recorded. From the results, a total of 34,929 adult ticks belonging to five genera and 10 species were encountered. The most abundant tick genera were Rhipicephalus of the subgenus Boophilus (68.91%), Amblyomma (20.72%), Hyalomma (8.64%), Ixodes (1.22%), and Haemaphysalis (0.51%). By geographic distributions, Am-blyomma and Rhipicephalus were common to all DMs, while R. microplus and R. decoloratus were found in the drier regions. From the map plotted for 16 custom feeding centers, lack of marketing channels (23%), poor animal conditions (20%), lack of infrastructure (19%), high price of medicine (14%), shortage of feed (10%), stock theft (8%), and age of animals (too old) to be marketed (6%) are the major shortcomings in red meat production. We found that the associations between gender (χ 2 = 31.3481, p < 0.0001), age (χ 2 = 32.4889, p < 0.0001), and farming experience (χ 2 = 52.7556, p < 0.0001) were significantly (p < 0.05) higher. Additionally, we found that farming commodities were significantly influenced by gender and farming experience. From the surveyed LRAD farms, we observed a higher proportion of increaser II grass species in Alfred Nzo (55.6%), Amathole (53.9%), and Chris Hani (46.4%) DMs. On the other hand, the decreaser grass species were few in Alfred Nzo (16.5%), Amathole (13.8%), and Chris Hani (21.8%). Inferences from the data indicate the need for government and stakeholders’ intervention to farmers through the provision of infrastructures, marketing channels, and training on livestock based programs.http://www.scirp.org/journal/ojasam2022Veterinary Tropical Disease