Abstract: Introduction Multiple outbreaks of Rift Valley Fever (RVF) with devastating effects have occurred in East Africa. These outbreaks cause disease in both livestock and humans and affect poor households most severely. Communities living in areas practicing nomadic livestock movement may be at higher risk of infection. This study sought to i) determine the human exposure to Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) in populations living within nomadic animal movement routes in Kenya; and ii) iden...
ABSTRACT East Coast Fever (ECF) is a tick borne disease endemic in the North Rift region of Kenya. The ECF infections lead to substantial economic loss to smallholder dairy farmers from veterinary costs incurred in using prophylactics and value loss associated with animal mortality and production decline during disease infection. Traditionally, prophylactic strategy of choice is application of acaricide in communal dips and hand spraying, but effectiveness of the strategy is a factor of good...
ABSTRACT Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) is a contagious viral disease to which dairy cattle are highly susceptible. An outbreak of FMD in a dairy herd can cause drop in milk yield, increase mastitis infections, force culling, and impair fertility. These production losses can be substantial, but farmers undervalue the magnitude of the loss that they incur. To fill this knowledge gap, the study quantified the association of FMD outbreak with milk yield, mastitis incidences, culling rates and fer...
ABSTRACT Lameness is a cause of worry to dairy producers for being indicative of welfare problem with resultant economic losses from reduced milk yield, veterinary cost or premature culling. Risks for lameness are both animal and herd level factors, but the magnitude varies with housing conditions of the cows. This study compared farmer estimated and observed prevalence, types of lameness, risk factors and economic losses from lameness of cows in farms practicing zero- and pasture grazing. T...