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Mortality and commercial off-take rates in adult traditional cattle of Zambia

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Abstract

A cohort study was conducted in the livestock-wildlife interface areas of Zambia to determine cattle mortality and commercial off-take rates among adult cattle as well as factors influencing them. A total of 416 animals from 43 herds were followed up for one year and animals were individually identified and their fate was indicated as sold, slaughtered, dead or present as appropriate. The overall mortality incidence risk was estimated at 7.5%. Cattle in Kazungula were at a greater risk of dying compared to those in Blue Lagoon and Lochnivar. Annual off-take was estimated at 13.7% (8.1–19.3%), unadjusted values, and 16.4% (8.1–24.5%) after adjusting for sampling fraction in primary sampling units (herds) and area stratification. Area variations were observed with Kazungula recording the highest in both instances, which was attributed to a contagious bovine pleural pneumonia (CBPP) outbreak. Herd size and gender were observed to influence cattle mortality rates. Cattle in the middle-sized herds (50–150 cattle) recorded high mortality rates (OR = 3.91) compared to smaller herds (10–50) and so were females compared to males (OR = 4.16). The logistic regression model showed that cattle death was influenced by managerial factors and that off-take rates tend to increase in the face of disease outbreaks.

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Abbreviations

CBPP:

contagious bovine pleural pneumonia

FGH:

flood plain grazed herds

LGH:

locally grazed herds

TGH:

transhumantly grazed herds

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Acknowledgement

We are greatly indebted to The Norwegian Council for Higher Education’s Programme for Development Research and Education (NUFU) who funded this study. We also acknowledge the cooperation we received from the farmers and help from field staff under the Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives. We are further grateful to the staff at the University of Zambia, School of Veterinary Medicine who helped with the work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Disease Control, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zambia, P.O. Box 32397, Lusaka, Zambia

    J. B. Muma, M. Munyeme, K. L. Samui & K. Mwacalimba

  2. Zambia Wildlife Authority, P/B 1 Chilanga, Zambia

    V. Siamudaala

  3. Department of Veterinary Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Makerere University, P.O. Box 7062, Kampala, Uganda

    J. Oloya

  4. Department of Food Safety and Infection Biology, Norwegian School of Veterinary Science, P.O. Box 8146 Dep., 0033, Oslo, Norway

    E. Skjerve

Authors
  1. J. B. Muma
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  2. M. Munyeme
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  3. K. L. Samui
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  4. V. Siamudaala
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  5. J. Oloya
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  6. K. Mwacalimba
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  7. E. Skjerve
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to J. B. Muma.

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Muma, J.B., Munyeme, M., Samui, K.L. et al. Mortality and commercial off-take rates in adult traditional cattle of Zambia. Trop Anim Health Prod 41, 783–789 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-008-9252-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-008-9252-0

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