East Coast fever (ECF)-2

East Coast Fever (ECF)-2 Cue: For cattle keepers in East and Central Africa, one of the most serious diseases to threaten their herds is East Coast fever. The disease is of particular danger to young animals, especially those of exotic breeds. Spread to livestock by brown ear ticks, the first sign of infection that cattle owners should be aware of is a swelling that occurs just below the ear of the animal. A few days after this swelling takes place, the animal develops a fever, and within a week it may begin to experience other symptoms. These can include difficulty in breathing and a soft cough, caused by fluid in the lungs; diarrhoea; a general wasting or weakening of muscle strength, and unusual whiteness in the eyes and gums. Treatment of the disease is possible, using drugs such as parvaquone or buparvaquone, commonly known as Parvexon. But farmers should also consider protecting their animals from the disease where possible. Dr Jaribu Sultan is a veterinary specialist working for the NGO Farm-Africa in northern Tanzania. He spoke recently to Lazarus Laiser about East Coast fever, and in particular, how cattle owners can protect their animals against this deadly disease. IN: ?East Coast fever is one of ? OUT: ?many problems of animal health care.? DUR?N 4?12? BACK ANNOUNCEMENT: Dr Jaribu Sultan speaking about the value of investing in livestock health. Transcript Sultan East Coast fever is one of the killer diseases in most of the livestock, and the mortality rate can reach as high as 100%, especially to the young animals of exotic breeds. And in relation to the indigenous cattle, it also causes a lot of death to these young animals. Laiser How can the farmer prevent the disease spreading to other animals? Sultan East Coast fever can be prevented by two methods. First, animals can be dipped; animals can be sent to the dip tank and dipped there. Or the animal can be sprayed by the farmer, using a knapsack sprayer, with a reputable acaricide. And the second method is through immunisation. They can be immunised or vaccinated against East Coast fever when they are still young or even when they are adult. The vaccine is a long-life vaccine, so you don?t need to repeat it. So it is economical actually to immunise your animal. Firstly you will protect the animal, and second, you can even reduce the cost of acaricides. Laiser One of the ways of preventing the disease is to spray or dip the animals. Is it good for a farmer to spray an animal himself or herself? Sultan Yes, it is much better if a farmer knows how to mix the acaricide, and he knows the area where ticks are mostly found in the body of the animal, then he can spray himself. That is very good, because at least he can protect the animal. But in case, if the farmer does not know, it is much better to use a dip tank, if the dip tank is available in the village. Or else the farmer can also get assistance from a nearby Community Based Animal Health Worker, or can even ask a village extension officer, so that he can be trained. He can be shown how to calculate the dosage of acaricide with water, and shown the areas where he is supposed to spray the animal on the body. Laiser How many livestock can be affected, according to your experience ? you are living in the villages and treating animals all the time? Sultan Actually if you look at the trend of the life-cycle of the ticks, you find that, especially during the rainy season the incidence of East Coast fever is very high. And you may also find that many animals are suffering. And the high mortality rate is to the young animals ? it is very very high. If you don?t protect the young animals, then you may eventually lose most of them. But it is advisable that farmers should adhere to the advice from the extension officers, that they should regularly dip their animals or spray their animals, so that they can reduce the tick burdens, and hence reduce even tick borne diseases, and especially East Coast fever. Laiser Do you have any word you would like to say to the farmers? Sultan Yes, thank you very much. What I would like to say to the farmers, is that the farmers should come together, even to form their own small association. So that they will be able to discuss the welfare of their animals, and how can they also increase the production. They have to organise themselves to manage the dip tank. Suppose someone comes from outside and wants to manage the dip tank, they have to go there and dip their animals. Not that they send two out of 100 hundred animals to dip there, because they feel that if they dip all animals that is very expensive. But what I advise them, is that if you have 50 cattle, and you sell one, that money can assist you to solve many problems of animal health care. End of track.Dr Jaribu Sultan, veterinary specialist for FARM-Africa in northern Tanzania. The interview focuses on protecting animals by dipping and vaccination