Effectiveness and profitability of preventive veterinary interventions in controlling infectious diseases of ruminant livestock in sub-Saharan Africa: a scoping review

Abstract

Agriculture in general, and livestock production in particular, serve as a livelihood source for many people in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). In many settings, lack of control of infectious diseases hampers livestock productivity, undermining the livelihood of rural populations. This scoping review sought to identify veterinary interventions previously evaluated as well as their relative effectiveness in controlling infectious livestock diseases. To be included, papers had to be written in English, German or French, and had to describe the effectiveness and/or profitability of preventive veterinary intervention(s) against anthrax, blackleg, bovine tuberculosis, brucellosis, contagious bovine pleuropneumonia, contagious caprine pleuropneumonia, foot-and-mouth disease, goat pox, lumpy skin disease, pasteurellosis, peste des petits ruminants, and/or sheep pox in any SSA country. Of the 2748 publications initially screened, 84 met our inclusion criteria and were analyzed. Most of the studies (n = 73, 87%) evaluated the effectiveness and/or profitability of vaccination, applied exclusively, applied jointly with, or compared to strategies like deworming, antimicrobial treatment, surveillance, feed supplementation, culling and dipping in reducing morbidity and/or mortality to livestock diseases. The effectiveness and/or profitability of antimicrobial treatment (n = 5), test and slaughter (n = 5), and use of lay animal health workers (n = 1) applied exclusively, were evaluated in the other studies. Vaccination was largely found to be both effective and with positive return on investment. Ineffective vaccination was mainly due to loss of vaccine potency under unfavorable field conditions like adverse weather events, cold chain failure, and mismatch of circulating pathogen strain and the vaccines in use.In summary, vaccination is the most effective and profitable means of controlling infectious livestock diseases in SSA. However, to achieve effective control of these diseases, its implementation must integrate pathogen surveillance, and optimal vaccine delivery tools, to overcome the reported field challenges.

Access to Vaccination Services for Priority Ruminant Livestock Diseases in Ghana: Barriers and Determinants of Service Utilization by Farmers

“…Livestock diseases impose significant costs on the livestock sector through animal deaths, disease control costs, and restrictions on animal trade (Grace et al, 2015;Nuvey et al, 2022a). At the individual farmer level, the diseases cause significant livelihood losses for households (Pradère, 2014;Huntington et al, 2021), affecting their domestic food security (Dominguez-Salas et al, 2019;Nuvey et al, 2022b), and psychosocial wellbeing (Mort et al, 2005;Nuvey et al, 2020).…”

Relationship between animal health and livestock farmers’ wellbeing in Ghana: beyond zoonoses

“…Similar to our results, previous research in other countries identi ed animal diseases as a signi cant source of livestock herd mortalities for households (31)(32)(33)(34). Based on this impact of diseases on herds, studies have emphasized the effectiveness and pro tability of applying preventive measures particularly vaccination to sustainably address disease-induced livestock mortalities (35)(36)(37)(38). Our ndings in the earlier studies of the larger project showed that the main diseases causing livestock mortalities are Contagious Bovine Pleuropneumonia and Food and Mouth Disease in cattle, and Peste des Petits Ruminants in small ruminants (sheep and goats) (19).…”

Commercial vaccines used in poultry, cattle, and aquaculture: a multidirectional comparison

“…The commercial dominance of vaccines of bacterial origin and those manufactured traditionally (live and inactivated) was expected. On the one hand, it corresponds to the long history of using traditional vaccines to control infectious diseases in the main livestock farms worldwide as well as to their favorable cost/benefit ratio ( 24 ). On the other hand, it occurs at a difficult time when international reports on antibiotic-resistant bacteria are increasing and therapeutic alternatives to combat them are depleting ( 14 , 25 ).…”