A participatory epidemiological study of major cattle diseases amongst Maasai pastoralists living in wildlife-livestock interfaces in Maasai Mara, Kenya

Abstract

Livestock-wildlife interactions promote the transmission of a wide range of infectious diseases that constraint livestock production. We used a participatory appraisal approach to find out and rank infectious diseases of concern to pastoralists in a zone of intense wildlife-livestock interaction and another zone with limited interactions. Four villages were selected purposively in areas with intensive cattle-wildlife interactions (zone 1), and another two in areas with low to moderate cattle-wildlife interactions (zone 2). Data were collected in focus group discussions (FGDs) using participatory epidemiological methods (PE); each group had 8–13 participants. Results of impact matrix scoring from all sites indicated that malignant catarrhal fever (MCF), anthrax, foot and mouth disease (FMD), contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP), east coast fever (ECF) and African animal trypanosomiasis (ATT), in decreasing order, had the highest impact on livestock production. A Kruskal–Wallis test revealed a significant difference in FMD annual prevalence between cattle age groups ( p < 0.001) and was the highest in animals > 4 years (median score of 32.5, range, 10–50). FMD had the highest impact on milk production, but based on veterinary costs (treatment costs), it was ranked second to CBPP. The study provides information on disease priorities that occur in the target zones in Mara ecosystem and which the local pastoralists must consider when accessing key ecosystem services such as water and pasture. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1007/s11250-018-01790-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Zoonotic Pathogen Seroprevalence in Cattle in a Wildlife–Livestock Interface, Kenya

“…among female cattle than males. In general, cows have lower offtake rates than bulls in Maasai Mara ecosystem as they are raised to provide milk, an important diet for the locals (Nthiwa et al 2019), and also for breeding purposes to replace animals that may die due to recurrent droughts (Huho et al 2011). As cows stay in herds longer than bulls, they could have high chances of repeated exposure to these pathogens over time.…”

“…In each selected household, the herd found in the village at the time of visit was sampled (as households could own more than one herd). The study targeted animals aged ≥ 1 year as these are the animals that interact with animals from other herds during grazing or sharing of water sources (Nthiwa et al 2019), given that younger animals are normally kept in the farm area and not taken for grazing and were therefore expected to have a higher relative risk of infectious disease exposure compared to calves. Animals aged more than 1 year also travelled longer distances than young ones and could be used more reliably for the surveillance of both diseases in the area.…”

“…In recent years, the area has undergone major land use changes due to increased human populations, infrastructure development (e.g., roads and fencing) and land privatization (Ogutu et al 2009; Løvschal et al 2019). An example of these changes is the establishment of wildlife conservancies in areas adjacent to Mara reserve and increased mixed farming (livestock production and crop cultivation) in areas further away from the reserve (Nthiwa et al 2019). Whereas the establishment of wildlife conservancies provides a sustainable way of integrating wildlife conservation alongside livestock production (Løvschal et al 2019), it also intensifies livestock–wildlife interactions which may increase infectious disease transmission (Nthiwa et al 2019).…”

Utilizing milk from pooling facilities as a novel approach for foot‐and‐mouth disease surveillance

“…Foot‐and‐mouth disease has been described as a high impact disease among pastoralists in Kenya (Nthiwa, Alonso, Odongo, Kenya, & Bett, ; Onono, Wieland, & Rushton, ), and several studies have examined the impact of FMD outbreaks on large scale farms (Kimani, Mwirigi, & Murithi, ; Lyons, Alexander, et al, ; Lyons, Stärk, et al, ; Mulei, Wabacha, & Mbithi, ). There is a requirement for improved disease surveillance particularly on smallholder farms (Knight‐Jones et al, ).…”

Detection and characterisation of sheep-associated malignant catarrhal fever infection from ruminants by using tegument and gB gene sequences of OvHV-2

“…Two causative agents for MCF are predominantly described, one of them carried by sheep infected with ovine herpesvirus 2 (OvHV-2) (called sheep-associated MCF) and the other carried by wildebeest ( Connochaetes species) containing alcelaphine herpesvirus 1 (AlHV-1) (called wildebeest-associated form) (Roizman 1992 ; Russel, Stewart & Haig 2009 ). To date, more than 10 identified causative viruses have been associated with this infection in domestic and wildlife ruminants (Crawford et al 2002 ; Nthiwa et al 2019 ; Seeley et al 2018 ).…”