Camel health management has implications for public health and camel product trade. After liberalization of the veterinary service, current camel health management in the arid and semi-arid lands (ASALS) of Kenya and its implications for public health is not known. This study investigated camel health management and its implications on zoonoses and food safety in Isiolo County, Kenya. Semi-structured questionnaires were administered to 150 households, 15 agro-veterinary shops, 15 community-based animal health workers (CBAHWs) and 10 veterinary officers to collect information on camel health management. The main occupation and source of household income for the pastoral communities is camel-keeping (45.3%). Pastoralists self-medicate camels and other livestock (45.8%), which can lead to between over-dosing, under-dosing or wrong drug use. The CBAHWs, traditional animal health service providers (TAHSPs), government veterinary officers and private veterinary officers play a minimum role. Private veterinary services have not taken root in the ASALs. The sources of knowledge and information on the veterinary drug to use are experience (57.4%), non-governmental organizations (NGO) (41.1%) or CBAHWs (32.1%). The majority of pastoralists (72.5%) do not keep camel or other livestock treatment records. The constraints in purchasing veterinary drugs are expensive drugs, accessibility to drugs and availability of money. Pastoralists refer to veterinary drugs by their brand names but not by active ingredients. As reported by pastoralists, focus group discussion and key informant interviews, antibiotics used were adamycine (33.3%), ampicilline (26.7%), penicillin (14.4%), tetracycline (12.2%), amoxylin (11.1%) and penstrip (2.2%). The common camel diseases were trypanosomiasis, brucellosis, mastitis, diarrhoea, worm infestation, camel pox and tuberculosis. The public health risk factors were the presence of veterinary drug residues in camel products and development of resistant zoonotic organisms/diseases. It was concluded that current camel health management has serious implications for public health and food safety, and hence the camel product trade.
A cross-sectional study was conducted among 308 lactating camels selected from 15 herds from three different camel milk clusters in Isiolo County, Kenya, to determine prevalence of bovine and avian tuberculosis using Single Comparative Intradermal Tuberculin Skin test. Seventy-five (75) questionnaires were administered to pastoralists/herders, and focus group discussions were conducted among 3-5 pastoralists/herders selected from each camel herd to collect information on camel husbandry and health management practices and knowledge on tuberculosis in livestock and wildlife. An overall prevalence of bovine and avian reactors was 3.57 and 18.18%, respectively, with bovine and avian reactors for different clusters being 2.38, 3.82, and 4.48% and 25, 17.2, and 11.94%, respectively. There was significant difference (p < 0.05) in prevalence of bovine and avian reactors between different clusters. There was a negative correction (r = -0.1399) between herd size and bovine reactors, while there was a positive correlation (r = 0.0445) between herd size and avian reactors. The respondents indicated that camel herds are exposed to several risk factors like close contact with other herds or livestock or wildlife during grazing and at watering points. Pastoralists have poor knowledge on mode of infection and transmission of bovine or avian tuberculosis. The high prevalence of bovine and avian reactors and pastoralists' poor knowledge on mode of transmission signify potential risk to public health.
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