Integrating Community-Based Animal Health Workers Into the Formal Veterinary Service Delivery System in Kenya

Mugunieri, Godiah Lawrence; Omiti, John M.; Irungu, Patrick

doi:10.1080/03031853.2004.9523637

Cited by 6 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Indeed, rangelands where livestock grazing is the primary land use account for approximately 45% of the Earth's surface, excluding Antarctica, and the majority of these areas lie within developing countries [ 16 ]. In Kenya, the arid and semi-arid rangelands where pastoralism occurs comprise 20% of the country's land area [ 17 ], and at least 60% of beef consumed in Kenya is produced in these regions [ 18 ]. Areas where pastoralism dominates are highly susceptible to outbreaks of infectious diseases, such as FMD, due to high levels of animal mobility and limited veterinary infrastructure [ 19 – 23 ], highlighting the importance of understanding pathogen transmission in pastoralist settings for economic and food stability.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seasonality and pathogen transmission in pastoral cattle contact networks

et al. 2017

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Capturing heterogeneity in contact patterns in animal populations is essential for understanding the spread of infectious diseases. In contrast to other regions of the world in which livestock movement networks are integral to pathogen prevention and control policies, contact networks are understudied in pastoral regions of Africa due to the challenge of measuring contact among mobile herds of cattle whose movements are driven by access to resources. Furthermore, the extent to which seasonal changes in the distribution of water and resources impacts the structure of contact networks in cattle is uncertain. Contact networks may be more conducive to pathogen spread in the dry season due to congregation at limited water sources. Alternatively, less abundant forage may result in decreased pathogen transmission due to competitive avoidance among herds, as measured by reduced contact rates. Here, we use GPS technology to concurrently track 49 free-roaming cattle herds within a semi-arid region of Kenya, and use these data to characterize seasonal contact networks and model the spread of a highly infectious pathogen. This work provides the first empirical data on the local contact network structure of mobile herds based on quantifiable contact events. The contact network demonstrated high levels of interconnectivity. An increase in contacts near to water resources in the dry season resulted in networks with both higher contact rates and higher potential for pathogen spread than in the wet season. Simulated disease outbreaks were also larger in the dry season. Results support the hypothesis that limited water resources enhance connectivity and transmission within contact networks, as opposed to reducing connectivity as a result of competitive avoidance. These results cast light on the impact of seasonal heterogeneity in resource availability on predicting pathogen transmission dynamics, which has implications for other free-ranging wild and domestic populations.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seasonality and pathogen transmission in pastoral cattle contact networks

et al. 2017

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“…The statutory bodies like the Kenya Veterinary Board (KVB) and Kenya Veterinary Association (KVA) also state that the CBAHW approach does not fit within the existing technical, legal and policy framework of animal health delivery (Mugunieri et al 2004a). Therefore, there is a need for policy change to integrate CBAHWs in the existing formal animal health service delivery in pastoral areas of Kenya (Mugunieri et al 2004b;Ahuja 2004). …”

Section: Treatment Of Camels and Other Livestockmentioning

confidence: 99%

Camel health management and pastoralists’ knowledge and information on zoonoses and food safety risks in Isiolo County, Kenya

et al. 2017

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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.

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“…The discovery of thermostable properties of the Nobivac rabies vaccine [32] and the feasibility of storing these vaccines in locally made cooling devices [33] makes it possible for these vaccines to be stored and used in remote settings by trained community volunteers. In spite of these possibilities to expand animal health service delivery, lay vaccinator programmes have not been formally deployed and in many countries their use is discouraged by professional veterinarians [11,34,35].…”

Section: Plos Neglected Tropical Diseasesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As agents of sensitization 1 [40,41] As advisors of farmers 1 [47] Dog population control 1 [41] Biologics delivered Multiple vaccines for livestock diseases 13 [21,23,34,35,38,42,43,47,54,55,[58][59][60] Thermotolerant ND vaccine strains 10 [39,40,43,44,46,[51][52][53]56,57] Thermovax rinderpest vaccine 3 [11,22,49] Rabies vaccine (unspecified) 2 [41,48] Nobivac Rabies & Puppy DP vaccines 1 [50] β-propiolactone inactivated suckling mouse brain vaccine for rabies 1 [15] Attenuated homologous PPR virus (Nigeria 75/1) strain vaccine 1 [45] Animals vaccinated Camel, Cattle, Goat, Sheep 17 [11,[21][22][23]34,35,38,42,43,45,47,49,…”

Section: Roles Played By Lavs As Vaccinators 30 All Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Effectiveness and other benefits of programmes Increased farm output and farmer assurance in animal assets 13 [11,15,34,35,39,40,44,46,47,49,50,53,58] Decreased disease transmission and case mortality 11 [15,22,38,46,47,49,51,55,[57][58][59] High vaccination coverage 10 [11,15,39,40,44,49-51] Non-inferior in birth and immunization outcomes 3 [35,45,49] Factors facilitating success of programmes Community participation 14 [11,15,22,39,[44][45][46]49,51,52,55,56,58,59] Public support 13 [11,15,22,35,39,41,42,…”

Section: Variables Description No Of Studies [References]mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Use of lay vaccinators in animal vaccination programmes: A scoping review

et al. 2021

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Background The human resource gap in veterinary sectors, particularly in low-income countries, imposes limitations on the delivery of animal healthcare in hard-to-reach populations. Lay animal health workers have been deployed in these settings to fill the gap though there are mixed views about the benefits of doing this and whether they can deliver services safely. We mapped evidence on the nature and extent of roles assigned to lay animal vaccinators, and identified lessons useful for their future deployment. Methodology/Principal findings Following the PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews guidelines, we searched seven bibliographic databases for articles published between 1980 and 2021, with the search terms lay OR community-based OR volunteer AND "animal health worker" OR vaccinator*, and applied an a priori exclusion criteria to select studies. From 30 identified studies, lay vaccinators were used by non-government developmental (n = 12, 40%), research (n = 10, 33%) and government (n = 5, 17%) programmes to vaccinate domestic animals. The main reason for using lay vaccinators was to provide access to animal vaccination in the absence of professional veterinarians (n = 12, 40%). Reported positive outcomes of programmes included increased flock and herd sizes and farmer knowledge of best practice (n = 13, 43%); decreased disease transmission, outbreaks and mortality (n = 11, 37%); higher vaccination coverage (10, 33%); non-inferior seroconversion and birth rates among vaccinated herds (n = 3, 10%). The most frequently reported facilitating factor of lay vaccinator programmes was community participation (n = 14, 47%), whilst opposition from professional veterinarians (n = 8, 27%), stakeholders seeking financial gains to detriment of programmes goals (n = 8, 27%) and programming issues (n = 8, 27%) were the most frequently reported barriers. No study reported on cost-effectiveness and we found no record from a low and middle-income country of lay vaccinator programmes being integrated into national veterinary services. Conclusion Although the majority of included studies reported more benefits and positive perceptions of lay vaccinator programmes than problems and challenges, regularization will ensure the programmes can be designed and implemented to meet the needs of all stakeholders.

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Integrating Community-Based Animal Health Workers Into the Formal Veterinary Service Delivery System in Kenya

Cited by 6 publications

References 5 publications

Seasonality and pathogen transmission in pastoral cattle contact networks

Seasonality and pathogen transmission in pastoral cattle contact networks

Camel health management and pastoralists’ knowledge and information on zoonoses and food safety risks in Isiolo County, Kenya

Use of lay vaccinators in animal vaccination programmes: A scoping review

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