Short-term economic impact of Foot and Mouth disease outbreak in a large Diary Farm in Kiambu District, Kenya

The short term farm level economic impact of foot and mouth disease outbreak in a large scale diary farm was assessed during quarantine period (35 days) and 60 days after lifting the quarantine. Direct and indirect areas that contribute to financial losses were identified for the period of observation (95 days) the greatest direct financial impact due to milk losses (42.0%) followed by purchase of additional feeds (13.6%) and culling of milk cows that developed chronic mastitis (12.5%). the other direct costs were extra labor inputs (8.9%), veterinary fees (3.3%), transport (3.0%) deaths(3.0%) drugs(2.9%) abortions (1.4%) and chemicals (0.5). the indirect costs associated with the effects of the quarantine period on other farm enterprises. During quarantine period on other farm enterprises. During the quarantine period there were no sales of pigs and hay and the retained pigs in addition to not fetching premium prices required additional feeds. The overall short-term farm level direct and indirect costs associated with outbreak amounted to Ksh 1,201,950 equivalent to US $16,026 (1 US$= 75Ksh.). This colossal economic loss within such a short period of time indicates that the control of FMD is of paramount importance in the diary farming sector in Kenya. The factors that would determine the magnitude of the financial losses due to an outbreak of FMD are discussed. The Kenya Veterinarian Vol. 22 2001: pp. 76-7

Epidemiological, Clinical and Pathological findings of Oedema Disease of Swine in Kenya

The main epidemiological findings that were associated with oedema disease of swine were recent weaning (8-14 days), mixing of piglets from different litters, change of feed and ad libitum feeding with concentrates after weaning and high fatality rate (70%-100%) even with treatment. The consistent clinical history was sudden death of healthy piglets after weaning. The clinical manifestation was combination of the following; anorexia, staggering gait, oedema of the eyelids, dropping edematous ears, hoarse sound, tremors, paralysis and recumbency. Marked dyspnea and bluish red discoloration in some cases. The main microscopic findings were subcutaneous oedema of the head, submucosa of the stomach wall, mesentery of the spiral colon and the brain and the meninges characterized by cloudy appearance, lung congestion, edema, consolidation and collapse and excessive fluid in the serous cavities. In animals that had died suddenly there were no gross lesions at necropsy. Microscopically the main lesions in all the animals were edema in the predilection sites, interstitial pneumonia of varying degrees of severity and non-suppurative ventricular encephalitis. The histopathological lesions in the lung and the brain tissues were suggestive of a viral involvement in addition to normal E. coli toxemia. Consequently it was concluded that the etiopathogenesis of these cases of oedema disease of swine could have also involved a virus in addition to the normal E.coli toxaemia. The Kenya Veterinarian Vol. 22 2001: pp. 79-8

Clinical, Laboratory Diagnosis and Treatment of Ehrlichial Infections in Dogs: A Review

Canine ehrlichiosis, a tick borne disease, is caused by an intracellular bacteria belonging to the genus Ehrlichia. It is one of the most important diseases in dogs and other canids in tropical and subtropical regions. The disease is transmitted transstadially, mainly, by the nymph and adult stages of the brown dog tick, Rhipicephalus sanguineus. Clinically the disease can take the acute or chronic form with a wide range of clinical presentations that include fever, depression, lethargy, dyspnea, anorexia, weight loss, lymphadenopathy, hemorrhage, epistaxis, increased hair loss, vomiting, blindness, edema, ataxia and polyarthritis. Superinfection with other organisms can complicate the clinical picture making clinical diagnosis difficult. Several diagnostic tests, notably identification of morulae in blood smears, in-vitro cell culture technique, indirect fluorescent test (IFA), enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR ) have been developed for the confirmation of the disease. The abundance of Rhipicephalus sanguineus in most areas in Kenya, due to favorable weather, increases the risk of the disease in dogs kept in such areas despite the control measures. Whenever the small animal clinicians are presented with cases of dogs having non-specific clinical signs, especially in Nairobi and other areas having similar climatic conditions, it would be prudent to consider the possibility of canine ehrlichiosis. At the moment the treatment protocol entails use of doxycycline or imidocarb dipropionate. The Kenya Veterinarian Vol. 29 2005: pp. 71-7

An Overview of Animal Welfare Issues in Kenya

Animal welfare is the physical and psychological state of an animal as regards its attempt to cope with the environment. An animal\'s welfare is compromised if it does not enjoy the five fundamental freedoms, namely: freedom from hunger or thirst; freedom from thermal or physical discomfort; freedom from pain, injury and disease; freedom from fear and distress and; freedom to indulge in normal behavior patterns. In recent times, animal welfare has developed into a science with growing amount of research whose outcomes have led to reforms in animal welfare legislation and improved conditions for production animals, research animals and those kept in captivity or as companion animals. Animal welfare abuse in Kenya results from: neglect; malicious physical injury; starvation; confinement; use of inappropriate modes of transportation/transportation facilities; manhandling during transportation; overcrowding; overloading; overworking; inhumane treatment at slaughter/slaughter facilities; inhumane treatment during capture; branding and; inappropriate working tools, among others. Animal welfare abuse in Kenya has been occasioned by: inadequate legal and policy provisions; inadequate capacity to monitor and minimize cruelty to animals; limited animal extension services and; inadequate training in animal welfare and supervision of service providers. Given that veterinarians influence how animals are treated at local, national and international levels, their training should include a good grounding in animal welfare education. The same should be extended to all other animal scientists. Through this, they can lead in bringing about improvements in animal welfare as well as helping to change attitudes towards animals. This paper looks at animal welfare issues in Kenya with respect to abuse, policy, legislation and education, and gives recommendations on the way forward. The Kenya Veterinarian Vol. 29 2005: pp. 48-5

Occurrence of Clinical Dermatophilosis in Zero-grazed Dairy Cattle

Dermatophilosis was clinically diagnosed and confirmed by isolation of Dermatophilus congolensis in three cows in a herd of seven zero-grazed dairy cattle. The lesions observed were matting together of hair into small tufts (greasy crusts) and discrete circumscribed lesions covered with creamy greasy crusts. The matting of hair into small tufts was found all over the body, while the discrete circumscribed lesions were mostly found in the distal extremities, dewlap, brisket, flank and dorsal midline. The circumscribed crusty lesions were similar to those of Trichophyton verrucosum infections that occur in similar production systems in Kenya, in that they were thick, horny and raised above the skin surface. However, unlike Trichophyton verrucosum infections, the crusts were held in place by penetrating hairs. Treatment of the severely affected cow with a single intramuscular injection of long acting tetracycline (20 mg/kg) resulted in regression of the lesions within 4 weeks, while in the mildly affected animals; the lesions receded on their own. Significant clinical Dermatophilosis has not been previously reported in stall-fed dairy animals in Kenya. The Kenya Veterinarian Vol. 21 2001: pp. 43-4

Farm Demographics and Pig management practices of Smallholder pig farms in Kikuyu Division Kiambu District

Across –sectional study was conducted in a high-potential periurban area in Kenya to obtain baseline information on Farm Demographics and Pig management practices of Smallholder pig farms. Using a simple random selection, 87 smallholder pig farms were selected from a total of 179 farms. Data on important farm management factors including, feeding, housing, breeding, preventive measures and general husbandry practices were gathered using semi structured questionnaires. The median farm size was 1 acre. The production system used by most farmers was farrow-to- finish. Most farms hired a boar for breeding. All farms kept crossbred pigs of large white and landrace with a mean of 15.7pigs per farm. Most farms used family labor. Most farms had only basic knowledge on pig production and never sought for any extension services. In all the farms, the pigs were stall fed in simple pens throughout the year. The bulk of the feed consisted of commercial feeds followed by swill. The pig raisers supplemented the bulk component of the feeds with farm weeds, kales, green vegetables, sweet potatoes vines, pumpkin leaves and nappier grass. The preventive- medicine practices included iron-deficiency prophylaxis and mange and helminth control. The Kenya Veterinarian Vol. 22 2001: pp. 72-7

Piloting a livestock identification and traceability system in the northern Tanzania–Narok–Nairobi trade route

We designed and piloted a livestock identification and traceability system (LITS) along the Northern Tanzania–Narok–Nairobi beef value chain. Animals were randomly selected and identified at the primary markets using uniquely coded ear tags. Data on identification, ownership, source (village), and the site of recruitment (primary market) were collected and posted to an online database. Similar data were collected in all the markets where tagged animals passed through until they got to defined slaughterhouses. Meat samples were collected during slaughter and later analyzed for tetracycline and diminazene residues using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Follow up surveys were done to assess the pilot system. The database captured a total of 4260 records from 741 cattle. Cattle recruited in the primary markets in Narok (n = 1698) either came from farms (43.8%), local markets (37.7%), or from markets in Tanzania (18.5%). Soit Sambu market was the main source of animals entering the market from Tanzania (54%; n = 370). Most tagged cattle (72%, n = 197) were slaughtered at the Ewaso Ng’iro slaughterhouse in Narok. Lesions observed (5%; n = 192) were related to either hydatidosis or fascioliasis. The mean diminazene aceturate residue level was 320.78 ± 193.48 ppb. We used the traceability system to identify sources of animals with observable high drug residue levels in tissues. Based on the findings from this study, we discuss opportunities for LITS—as a tool for surveillance for both animal health and food safety, and outline challenges of its deployment in a local beef value chain—such as limited incentives for uptake

Fertility of Zero-Grazed Dairy Cattle following Hormone Treatment and Fixed-Time Artificial Insemination

Reproduction is important to dairy herds and achievement of economically optimal performance still remains a substantial multifactorial challenge in many herds. Poor estrus expression and detection, repeat breeding, prolonged postpartum anestrus and delayed onset of puberty are some of the limiting factors to attainment of optimum reproductive efficiency in zero-grazed herds. This study investigated the fertility of anestrous and repeat breeder zerograzed dairy animals following induction of ovarian cyclicity, synchronization of ovulation, and fixed time insemination. The following three categories of animals were recruited into the study: 1) Delayed puberty or anestrus in heifers (n=26), 2) Prolonged postpartum anestrus (n=23), and 3) Repeat breeding cows and heifers (n=28). The seventy seven animals (69 Friesians, 7 Ayrshires and 1 Guernsey) were all zero-grazed and had a median age and parity of 5.0 years and 2.5 respectively, and a body condition score of at least 2.5 on a scale of 1 to 5. All study animals were intramuscularly injected with Gonadotropin Releasing Hormone (GnRH) on Day 0, Prostaglandin F2α (PGF2α) on Day 7, and GnRH on Day 9. Treated animals had timed artificial insemination (AI) 8-24 hours after the last injection. Pregnancy diagnosis was performed by rectal palpation 60 days post-AI. The pregnancy rate for anestrous cows (6/23) was 26.1%, repeat breeder cows (5/14) 35.7%, anestrous heifers (16/26) 61.5% and repeat breeder heifers (5/14) 35.7%. This treatment protocol may improve fertility outcomes in zero-grazed units where anestrus is a problem, reproductive skills are deficient, there is scarcity of labor or where there is an inability to commit the required time for estrus detection. Kenya Veterinarian Vol. 30 (2) 2006: pp. 68-7