The effectiveness of community-led initiatives in livestock disease control: a case of African swine fever in rural areas of Uganda

Abstract

Proper implementation of biosecurity is currently the only control measure of African swine fever (ASF) in the absence of an effective vaccine or drug against the disease. Despite the efforts that Uganda's local and central governments have invested to reduce livestock diseases, ASF outbreaks still persist in the country. In this study, we assessed the effectiveness of community-led initiatives in the control of ASF in Mukono District, central Uganda. In Mukono district, a community-led pilot program was initiated where stakeholders in the pig value chain organized themselves into an ASF control task force to enforce on-farm and pig value chain activities intended to limit the spread of ASF. Semi-structured interviews with pig famers (n = 211) were conducted in two areas with contrasting practices: one with active community-initiated and monitored ASF control initiatives since 2016 (Kasawo and Namuganga) and the other without such initiative as the control (Mpunge and Ntenjeru). A significant decline (Wilcoxon ranked sign test: Z = − 5.412, p = 0.000) in the annual frequency of ASF outbreaks in both Kasawo and Namuganga sub-counties was observed after the implementation of community-led initiatives. The level of practice of most ASF control measures was significantly higher (p < 0.01) in sub-counties that instituted community-led ASF control initiatives than in the control sub-counties. The results of this study demonstrate the power of community-led initiatives in reducing ASF disease outbreaks in endemic areas.

Comparison of diaphragm meat juice and muscle swab samples to spleen and spleen swab samples for the detection of African swine fever viral nucleic acid

“…In Uganda, community-led biosecurity programs have been shown to be effective. 36 One considerable area of risk for ASFV entry into a country is from pork products, 9 and that risk is only increasing as the virus continues to spread globally. 23 In addition, there is a need for testing of carcasses to understand the distribution of the virus in wildlife when wild swine species become infected.…”

Innovative Research Offers New Hope for Managing African Swine Fever Better in Resource-Limited Smallholder Farming Settings: A Timely Update

“…Recent research provides evidence that biosecurity implementation across the value chain can be improved by paying more attention to smallholders’ own disease priorities and engaging all stakeholders in the value chain to increase ownership of the disease and its control [ 54 ]. For this purpose, participatory approaches, consultation, and co-creation can be used to adapt control measures so that they are economically and practically feasible as well as socio-culturally acceptable [ 23 , 53 , 54 , 76 , 87 , 88 ].…”

“…Sharing of boars is a common practice among smallholder farmers [ 3 , 4 , 10 , 76 , 88 , 104 , 105 , 106 , 107 , 108 , 109 , 110 ]. It is considered to be an unsafe practice because the status of the boars is not known, although it is unlikely that a clinically sick boar would mate.…”