Prevalence of bovine mastitis and antimicrobial sensitivities of the bacterial causes in smallholder farms of Kisumu County, Kenya

Prevalence of bovine mastitis in Kisumu County, risk factors and antibiotic sensitivities of the causative bacteria were determined in this cross-sectional study. Sub-clinical mastitis (SCM) was diagnosed using California Mastitis Test (CMT). Risk factors were identified through the administration of 64 questionnaires and assessment of 134 lactating cows. Bacteria were identified by culturing 72 CMT-positive udder quarter milk samples and their sensitivities to antibiotics investigated using Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion test. Only SCM was detected and had cow level prevalence of 33% (44/134). Prevalence of SCM was significantly (p0.05) higher in cows under complete and semi-zero grazing systems, at mid lactation, those pregnant and with parity of 1-3.  Staphylococcus species was the most common (63.8%, n=58) isolate. Other isolates were E. coli (13.8%), Streptococcus species (12.1%) and Pseudomonas (5.2%). Staphylococcus and Streptococcus isolates were 100% sensitive to streptomycin, kanamycin, gentamycin and chloramphenicol. Additionally, Streptococcus species were 100% sensitive to ampicillin, tetracycline and cotrimoxazole. Staphylococcus species had developed varying levels of resistance against sulphamethoxazole, cotrimoxazole, ampicillin and tetracycline. Streptococcus species was 100% resistant to sulfamethoxazole. A significantly high SCM prevalence was reported in this study thus an appropriate control strategy is needed that consists of awareness creation, good milking hygiene practices, teat disinfection, regular screening for SCM and preventing spread of mastitis in the herd by milking infected cow(s) last.   

Foresight Africa: Top Priorities for the Continent 2020-2030

The new year 2020 marks the beginning of a promising decade for Africa. Through at least the first half of the decade, economic growth across Africa will continue to outperform that of other regions, with the continent continuing to be home to seven of the world's 10 fastest-growing economies. Collective action among African and global policymakers to improve the livelihoods of all under the blueprint of the Sustainable Development Goals and the African Union's Agenda 2063 is representative of the shared energy and excitement around Africa's potential. With business environments improving, regional integration centered around the African Continental Free Trade Agreement progressing, and the transformational technologies of Fourth Industrial Revolution spreading, never before has the region been better primed for trade, investment, and mutually beneficial partnerships. The recent, unprecedented interest of an increasingly diversified group of external partners for engagement with Africa highlights this potential. Despite the continent's promise, though, obstacles to success linger, as job creation still has not caught up with the growing youth labor force, gaps in good and inclusive governance remain, and climate change as well as state fragility threaten to reverse the hard-fought-for gains of recent decades.This special edition of Foresight Africa highlights the triumphs of past years as well as strategies from our experts to tackle forthcoming, but surmountable, obstacles to a prosperous continent by 2030

Inflation in Kenya: an empirical analysis

The paper analyses the dynamics of inflation in Kenya by assessing the relative importance of monetary and external factors. This is done through a multivariate Granger-noncausality tests and the decomposition of the forecast error variance into variable specific innovations Using Granger-noncausality tests the study finds that monetary base growth, exchange rate movements, real income growth, the foreign rate of inflation and interest rate movements have significant effects on inflation. The monetary base growth, interest rate1 and exchange rate movements have strong feedback effects with inflation. This implies that a shock on any of this variables, including the rate of inflation will not peter out rapidly (not transitory) but will have permanent effects. Broad money, M3, on the other hand, is driven by inflation without feedback effects. These results point to the differential impact of the two money supply aggregates on the rate of domestic inflation. Using variance decomposition, the exchange rate was found to be the most important variable accounting for half of the innovations in the price level. The paper thus concludes that exchange rate movements are more important than money supply growth in explaining Kenya's inflationary process

A Dynamic Model of Inflation for Kenya, 1974-1996

This paper analyses the dynamics of inflation in Kenya during 1974–96, a period characterized by external shocks and internal disequilibria. By developing a parsimonious and empirically constant error correction model the paper finds that the exchange rate, foreign prices, and terms of trade have long-run effects on inflation, while the money supply and interest rate only have short-run effects. The dynamics of inflation are also found to be influenced by food supply constraints. Moreover, inertia is important for the period up to 1993, when about 40 percent of current inflation was transmitted to the next quarter. After 1993 inertia drops to about 10 percent.

Coping with a dual shock : the economic effects of COVID-19 and oil price crises on African economies

International audienceOil-dependent countries face a twin-shock: in addition to the COVID-19 outbreak, they are facing an oil price collapse. In this paper, we study the impact of this dual shock on the forecasted GDP growth in Africa using the COVID-19 outbreak as a natural experiment. We use the IMF World Economic Outlook’s GDP growth forecasts before and after the outbreak. We find that COVID-19 related deaths result in -2.75 percentage points forecasted GDP growth loss in the all sample while oil-dependence induces -7.6 percentage points loss. We document that the joint shock entails higher forecasted growth loss in oil-dependent economies (-10.75 percentage points). Based on oil price forecasts and our empirical findings, we identify five recovery policies with high potential: social safety net policy, economic diversification, innovation and technological transformation, fiscal discipline, and climate-friendly recovery policy

Coping with a dual shock : the economic effects of COVID-19 and oil price crises on African economies

International audienceOil-dependent countries face a twin-shock: in addition to the COVID-19 outbreak, they are facing an oil price collapse. In this paper, we study the impact of this dual shock on the forecasted GDP growth in Africa using the COVID-19 outbreak as a natural experiment. We use the IMF World Economic Outlook’s GDP growth forecasts before and after the outbreak. We find that COVID-19 related deaths result in -2.75 percentage points forecasted GDP growth loss in the all sample while oil-dependence induces -7.6 percentage points loss. We document that the joint shock entails higher forecasted growth loss in oil-dependent economies (-10.75 percentage points). Based on oil price forecasts and our empirical findings, we identify five recovery policies with high potential: social safety net policy, economic diversification, innovation and technological transformation, fiscal discipline, and climate-friendly recovery policy

Comparative sensitivity of dot-ELISA, PCR and dissection method for the detection of trypanosome infections in tsetse flies (Diptera: Glossinidae)

A visually read dot-enzyme linked immunosorbent asay (dot-ELISA) developed for the detection of trypanosomes in tsetse flies (Glossina spp.) was evaluated in the laboratory and under field conditions. In the evaluation, the fly dissection method was used as a standard technique and compared to the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). In laboratory studies, 133 and 126 tsetse flies were experimentally infected with different stocks of Trypanosoma brucei and T. congolense, respectively. Twenty-five days after infection, the flies were dissected and tested for the presence of trypanosomes using dot-ELISA and PCR. Dot-ELISa detected 98.4 percent of T. brucei and 94 percent of T. congolense infections in tsetse midguts, while PCR detected 97.6 percent of T. brucei and 96 percent of T. congolense tsetse midgut samples. For field evaluation of dot-ELISA, 700 tsetse flies were caught and screened for trypanosome infections by dissection. Seven of these (1 percent) had trypomastigotes in the midgut, 23 (3.3 percent) in the proboscis and none had trypanosomes in the salivary glands. All the flies with midgut infections also had trypanosomes in their proboscides. Five of the seven flies (71.4 percent) with midgut infections revealed by dissection, were also positive for T. congolense by the dot-ELISA and PCR techniques. Dot-ELISA detected T. congolense infections in an additional 86 (12.4 percent) of the 700 flies dissected. Of the 23 infections in the proboscis, 16 were T. vivax. Dot-ELISA detected 13 of the 16 (81 percent) while PCR detected 15 of 16 (94 percent) T. vivax infections. No T. brucei infection was detected by any of the methods in all the 700 flies examined. The results obtained from both the laboratory and field studies indicate that the dot-ELISA and PCR techniques are sensitive and species-specific in revealing trypanosome infections in tsetse flies. While dot-ELISA required a single test to detect T. congolense, several primer pairs were needed for PCR. The potential use of dot-ELISA as a tool for studying the epidemiology of trypanosomosis, while considering its field applicability and relatively lower cost is discussed