A study was conducted on 37 randomly selected broiler poultry farmers in Rwanda to characterize the production system using pre-tested semi-structured questionnaires. The data were processed in SPSS and presented as means, percentages and ranges in tables and text. All respondents kept Cobb breed and young stock was mainly (73 %) imported from abroad. The majority of respondents were males (68 %) and most farmers had attended only primary level of education (40.5 %). Most of the farms were in the peri-urban (48.6 %) and urban (37.8 %) areas and hired male youth (62.2 %) mainly aged 19-35 years. The majority of respondents (68 %) kept less than 500 birds per batch. Recordkeeping was well practiced (91.9 %) and (62.6 %) had permanent poultry houses and all farmers used deep litter system. Purchased feedstuffs were reportedly (92 %) mixed at farm level as the main feed resource. Maize bran was reported (97.06 %) the main, basal feedstuff. The mortality rates of chick and growers were 12.3 and 9.4 %, respectively. The slaughter age was reportedly 60 days with an average dressing percentage of 75.67 %. The main challenges reported were scarcity and unaffordability of quality feeds (59.5 %), lack of market access (45 %) and lack of credit (21 %). The farmers had various views on improving broiler production in Rwanda ranging from establishing feed processing industries 62.2 %, improving marketing facilities 35.1 %, increasing availability of day-old chick and access credit 27 %, to intensification of farmer training 16.2 %.

La rage est une zoonose endémique dans les pays en développement et compte parmi les pathologies virales les plus virulentes et mortelles. Elle constitue une menace pour la sante publique et animale au Burkina Faso. La présente étude transversale a été conduite pour décrire l’épidémiologie de la rage et les connaissances, attitudes et pratiques (CAP) des populations à Ouagadougou. Elle a consisté en une collecte de données auprès des ménages et des structures techniques impliquées dans la prévention, le contrôle et la surveillance de la rage humaine et animale. L’enquête CAP a été réalisée auprès de 616 ménages. Elle a montré que la majorité des participants avaient entendu parler de la rage humaine (80,7 %) et animale (94,6 %), savaient qu’elle se transmettait essentiellement à la suite de morsure par un chien infecte (94,2 %) et étaient capables de citer correctement au moins deux voies de transmission de la maladie (65,7 %). En revanche, seuls 9,7 % des propriétaires de chiens affirmaient être capables de financer la vaccination antirabique canine annuelle. Les principaux canaux d’information et de communication sur la rage utilises par les participants étaient l’entourage (41,8 %), l’école (33,4 %) et les médias (24,8 %). Quant à l’étude épidémiologique rétrospective, qui s’est appuyée sur les documents disponibles au sein des structures nationales, elle a mis en évidence qu’en moyenne 4172 cas de morsures étaient enregistrées chaque année, que seules 31,7 % des personnes mordues avaient bénéficié d’une prophylaxie postexposition complète et que 68 % des animaux testes étaient positifs au virus rabique. Ces études confirment la présence du risque rabique dans le pays et montrent la nécessite de renforcer l’éducation et l’engagement communautaire ainsi qu’une étroite collaboration entre les secteurs de la santé animale et de la santé humaine pour une gestion intégrée des cas de morsures.

The irrational use of antibiotics in humans and animals is highly related to the emergence and increase of antibiotic-resistant bacteria worldwide. A cross-sectional survey aimed at evaluating the current level of practices regarding antibiotic use in farm animals in Rwanda was carried out countrywide. Interviews were conducted on 229 farmers rearing different types of animals. The study has revealed that almost all respondent farmers could name at least one antibiotic used in farm animals and peni-streptomycin was named by most of them (95.6%). The use of antibiotics in farm animals was observed in the majority of respondents (97.4%). It was found that 44.4 and 26.5% of respondents reported that they used antibiotics for disease prevention and growth promotion, respectively. The use of non-prescribed antibiotics in animals was also reported by more than the half of respondent farmers (55.6%). The majority of farmers had a moderate level of practices regarding antibiotic use in farm animals (73.5%), very few had a high level (26%) and only one respondent had a low level. The high level of practices in regard to antibiotic use in animals was associated with the location of the farm, the type of reared animals, and the rearing system. The results of this study give an insight into antibiotics usage practices in farm animals in Rwanda. The generated information can guide sensitizations and promotions of the prudent use of antibiotics among farmers in order to limit the increase of antibiotic resistance in the country.

In several developing countries, studies on antimicrobial resistance among bacteria from food animals are rare mostly because of under-resourced laboratories. The objective of this study was to develop and field-test a low cost protocol to estimate the isolate- and sample-level prevalence of resistance to critically important antibiotics among Escherichia coli and Salmonella isolated from dairy cattle feces. Using a predesigned protocol, fecal samples were collected to isolate non-type-specific E. coli and Salmonella using selective media without antibiotic supplements. Besides, samples were screened for E. coli and Salmonella isolates not susceptible to third-generation cephalosporins and quinolones using selective media supplemented with cefotaxime (1.0 μg/mL) and ciprofloxacine (0.5 μg/mL), respectively. All bacterial isolates were further tested for antibiotic susceptibility using disk diffusion. Bacterial isolates not susceptible to third-generation cephalosporins were tested for extended spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) phenotype using the combination disk test. Molecular methods were performed on selected bacterial isolates to identify and distinguish genetic determinants associated with the observed phenotypes. Among 85 non-type-specific E. coli isolated from MacConkey agar without antibiotics, the isolate-level prevalence of resistance to tetracycline was the highest (8.2%). Among 37 E. coli recovered from MacConkey agar with cefotaxime, 56.8% were resistant ceftriaxone. Among 22 E. coli isolates recovered from MacConkey agar with ciprofloxacin, 77.3% and 54.5% were resistant to nalidixic acid and ciprofloxacin, respectively. Sixteen Salmonella were isolated and only one demonstrated any resistance (i.e., single resistance to streptomycin). Among E. coli isolates not susceptible to ceftriaxone, an AmpC phenotype was more common than an ESBL phenotype (29 versus 10 isolates, respectively). Whole genome sequencing showed that phenotypic profiles of antibiotic resistance detected were generally substantiated by genotypic profiles. The tested protocol is suited to detecting and estimating prevalence of antimicrobial resistance in bacteria isolated from food animal feces in resource-limited laboratories in the developing world.