Epidemiology and community knowledge, attitude and practice towards lumpy skin disease in Tanga and Pwani Regions inTanzania
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Date
2024
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Sokoine University of Agriculture
Abstract
Lumpy skin disease (LSD) is an important viral disease of cattle and
water buffalo affecting animals of all breeds and all ages. LSD was first
reported in Zambia in 1929, with the first report of outbreak in Tanzania
in 1981 and 1986 and considered endemic in many sub-Saharan
countries. Presently, the disease is among global threat to the cattle
industry due to its rapid spread beyond Africa and having very high
morbidity and is therefore, one of the WOAH listed notifiable
transboundary disease. Despite, the high morbidity and associated
economic losses, scientific information on LSD in Tanzania remains
scarce. The current study aimed to generate information on the
seroprevalence and risk factors associated with lumpy skin disease and
to assess the community knowledge, altitude and practice (KAP)
towards LSD. A cross sectional study was conducted in Tanzania in two
regions (Tanga and Pwani) from December 2022 to February 2023.
Blood samples were collected from 200 unvaccinated cattle from
randomly selected households and their sera were tested for presence
of LSD virus antibodies using capripox double antigen multispecies
commercial Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay kit (ID.vet Innovative
Diagnostics-France). A questionnaire tool was used to collected data
through face-to-face interview with herd owners or representatives to
assess risk factors for LSD occurrence in the area and to assess KAP.
The present study has confirmed presence of LSD antibodies and
generated epidemiological information by establishing seroprevalence
and risk factors for LSD occurrence. The overall prevalence was 13.5%
(CI= 9.06-19.03) and 22.73% (CI =14.47- 32.89) at animal and herd
level respectively. Seven (7) factors appeared to have significant
influence on the LSD serostatus; namely age (OR= 3.1, CI =0.94-9.94),
communal grazing system (OR= 6.14, CI =1.4-26.84), herd size (OR=
0.1, CI =0.02-0.04), introduction of new animal (OR= 3.53, CI=1.53-
8.18), source of breeding bull (OR =0.1, CI= 0.03-0.59), rural area
location (OR= 2.6, CI =1.0-6.9), breed (OR= 0.3, CI =0.11-0.62) and free movement and contact with other animals (OR =3.54, CI =1.17-
10.704). Animal sex, breeding system and region had no significant
association with the observed seropositivity at P≤0.05. Results on KAP
revealed that majority of the respondents were aware of LSD and over
half of the respondents had past LSD experience. Limited knowledge on
LSD clinical signs, associated losses, transmission, control and blood
feeding insect role in LSD epidemiology was observed. Majority of the
respondents perceived LSD impact and its possibility of occurrence and
believed vaccine is important in LSD control, however, majority believed
that they had limited access to vaccines. Sharing of grazing areas and
watering points, introduction of new animals and sharing of breeding
bulls were common practices. Respondent age, herd size, district, role
in the households, animal type and past experience on LSD occurrence
were significantly associated with the observed KAP. This is the first
study to be contacted in Tanzania which has generated important
information on LSD including seroprevalence, risk factors and KAP.
This information is important in planning and implementation of different
control measure. These findings also suggest the need of conducting
further studies to identify and characterize the causative agent and to
develop vaccine for controlling this economically important disease
Description
Dissertation
Keywords
LSD, Seroprevalence, risk factors, KAP, Tanzania.