Disease incidence in ranch and pastoral livestock herds around Lake Mburo National Park, in South Western Uganda

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Abstract

A longitudinal study was done to monitor incidence of livestock diseases in ranch and pastoral herds around Lake Mburo National Park, in South-western Uganda with a high level of wildlife (impala and zebra) and livestock (cattle and goats) interactions. East Coast Fever (ECF), abortions, helminthosis and starvation due to drought were major livestock disease problems encountered. ECF was a major disease affecting mainly calves, causing mortality both in ranch (8.5%) and pastoral (8.2%) herds. Meanwhile, drought was a more serious in pastoral than ranch herds (p < 0.05), killing 28.5 % and 5.8% of adult female cattle in respective production systems. Other endemic diseases found and controlled by vaccination were FMD, CBPP and blackquarter. In both cattle and goats helminthosis was causing mortalities, 3.3% and 0.8% among calves in pastoral and ranches respectively; and 4.8% and 6.9% among kids and sub-adult goats respectively. Many cases of abortions occurred among pastoral herds. In conclusion, the disease incidence among livestock was the same or relatively low as compared to other areas without wildlife.

Keywords

Disease incidence Livestock-wildlife interfaces Lake Mburo National Park 

Abbreviations

ARS

Ankole Ranching Scheme

CBPP

Contagious Bovine Pleuro Pneumonia

DCBR

Dairy Cross Breeding Ranch

ECF

East Coast Fever

FMD

Foot and Mouth Disease

ha

Hectare

LMA

Lake Mburo Area

LMNP

Lake Mburo National Park

TBDs

Tick-Borne Diseases

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Notes

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to International Foundation of Science (IFS), German Academic Service (DAAD) and Government of Uganda through Board of Postgraduate Studies and Research, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda for providing us with funds. The management of ranches and pastoral households in which the study was conducted are all thanked for their co-operation.

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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2009

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Department of Wildlife and Animal Resource Management, Faculty of Veterinary MedicineMakerere UniversityKampalaUganda
  2. 2.Department of Veterinary Anatomy , Faculty of Veterinary MedicineMakerere UniversityKampalaUganda
  3. 3.Department of Epidemiology, Veterinary Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary MedicineMakerere UniversityKampalaUganda

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