Economic burden of bovine trypanosomosis in three villages of Metekel zone, Northwest Ethiopia

Abstract

The study was carried out to assess the economic burden of trypanosomosis in three villages of the Metekel zone in 2009. The disease was found to cause substantial economic losses through cattle mortality, drug purchase, and draft power loss of infected oxen. The farmers in the area were spending a significantly (p < 0.05) higher amount of money for the treatment of trypanosomosis than all other diseases combined. The overall mortality rate of cattle due to trypanosomosis was 4.4%. The mortality was significantly higher (p < 0.05) in an area where trypanosomosis prevalence was also higher. Many of the farmers prioritized losses of draft power as the most important impact of the disease. The overall prevalence of the disease was 12.1%. The disease burden was significantly (p < 0.05) higher in the rainy season than at other times of the year. In general, farmers had good knowledge on the signs and seasonality of trypanosomosis. Thus, tsetse suppression activities that involve the local community can be an important tool towards minimizing the economic burden of the disease in the area.

Community-based tsetse fly control significantly reduces fly density and trypanosomosis prevalence in Metekel Zone, Northwest, Ethiopia

“…G. tachinoides was the only species found in all the study areas. This result coincides with Mekuria and Gadissa (2011) and Tesfaye et al (2012) who revealed that G .tachinoides was the only riverine species found in Metekel zone. This could be due to the natural condition of the study areas where huge forest galleries with long river basins are favorable for this species (Pollock 1982a).…”

“…Metekel zone, one of the tsetse-infested areas, is the place where the disease has been serious for the local community affecting farm activities through reducing draught power of oxen, losses of milk, meat, growth, and finally killing of infected animals (Tesfaye et al 2012). The zone had shortage of animal health professionals so that farmers treated their animals themselves with not enough understanding of drug management which leads to drug resistance development (Afewerk et al 2000).…”

Survey on knowledge of trypanosomosis amongst livestock farmers in Kachia and Saminaka local government areas of Kaduna state, Nigeria

“…The survey showed that trypanosomosis accounted for 2.0% to 2.8% mortality in cattle, goats and sheep. This is lower than the 6.6% and 4.4% mortality rates in cattle reports by Tesfaye et al (2011) in southern rift valley and Northwest Ethiopia. The differences could be due to the knowledge of disease management by farmers in Kachia and Saminaka.…”

Assessing the Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Effect of Removing Bovine Trypanosomiasis in Eastern Africa

“…The values were estimated based on a review of longitudinal and cross-sectional studies comparing the productivity observed in infected and uninfected individual cattle or whole herds, under conditions of both high and low trypanosomiasis challenge (see Section 2.3.3). The effects of trypanosomiasis treatment on performance were estimated based on a review of longitudinal and cross-sectional studies comparing the productivity observed in infected and uninfected individual cattle or whole herds, under conditions of both high and low trypanosomiasis challenge [33,45,[54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61]. The review gave a range of values for the effect of the disease.…”