Review of livestock pathology in the central African region: epidemiological considerations and control strategies

Abstract

International audienceDisease has consistently featured among the major constraints of livestock production in the central African region, causing important economic losses. This article reviews livestock diseases of economic importance, the major ones of which include foot-and-mouth disease, trypanosomiasis and dermatophilosis in cattle, peste-des-petits-ruminants virus and gastrointestinal helminthiasis in sheep and goats, and Newcastle disease in poultry. Some aspects of epidemiology such as pathogen identification, prevalence and risk factors are examined in the light of research findings in the region. Control tools such as vaccines, chemotherapeutic/prophylactic agents and protocols developed for their efficiency have also been reviewed. Constraints hindering the effective use of tools have been identified as mostly due to institutional inadequacy. Measures for improvement are proposed, including the promotion of private professional veterinary services with greater responsibility in animal health care, creation and promotion of community-based animal health care units in areas of marginal professional coverage and the adoption of a regional approach to the control of diseases of economic importance