Assessing the economic impact of immunisation against East Coast fever: a case study in coast province, Kenya

Abstract

The cost of immunising cattle against East Coast fever by the infection and treatment method has been calculated for a pilot scheme in Kaloleni Division of the Coast Province of Kenya by using a spreadsheet model. The cost was calculated to be KSh 544 (US$25) per animal (in 1990 values). If a farmer were to bear all this cost, immunisation would be financially profitable in grade cattle, but the benefits of immunisation would not be sufficient to justify the immunisation of zebu cattle. For these animals, the cost of immunisation would have to be in the range of KSh 230 to KSh 415 per animal, or the farm-gate price of milk would have to increase by at least 80 per cent from KSh 7.50 to 13.50/litre, or the government would have to subsidise the cost either partially or fully. The first two possibilities are realistic, because the costs of routine immunisation are likely to be lower than for the pilot scheme, and because the increasing demand for milk is likely to push up prices in the liberalised markets. If both the grade and zebu cattle in Kaloleni Division were targets for immunisation, it is estimated that there would be 14,500 head for immunisation annually, costing an estimated KSh 8 million. The spreadsheet model used to assess the economics of immunisation in the Kaloleni Division could be applied to determine the government or private veterinary service charges for immunisation that would be financially profitable to farmers in a defined cattle production system in any division, district or country. The model could also be used to estimate the annual total number of cattle for immunisation in a target cattle production system and thus help with the financial planning for the exercise.

An update on the ecological distribution of Ixodid ticks infesting cattle in Rwanda: countrywide cross-sectional survey in the wet and the dry season

“…More recently, the use of the most environmentally compatible and cost-eVective immunisation method (Mukhebi et al 1995;Pegram et al 1996) has been proposed as an alternative for the control of ECF. A bilateral research project between the Belgian and the Rwandan governments to identify potential ECF vaccine strains has been initiated.…”

Detection of Theileria orientalis in Iran by semi-nested PCR

“…annulata is a highly pathogenic and lymphoproliferative disease in cattle which causes significant economic losses to animal husbandry in tropical and subtropical countries (Mukhebi et al 1995;Norval et al 1992;Robinson 1982). On the other hand, T. orientalis cause bovine piroplasmosis, a disease characterized by anemia in All primers were designed in the Investigating Unit of Molecular Biological System Transfer (Iran) and were synthesized by Cinnagen Company infected cattle (Minami et al 1980).…”

Survey on infection rate, vectors and molecular identification of Theileria annulata in cattle from North West, Iran

“…Theileria annulata is a highly pathogenic and lymphoproliferative disease in cattle which causes significant economic loss to animal husbandry in tropical and subtropical countries (Mukhebi et al 1995). Microscopic examination, such as Giemsa-stained blood smears is mostly used as a confirmatory diagnosis of vertebrate host suffering from piroplasm infections.…”