Andy Catley

Participatory epidemiology: approaches, methods, experiences.

Participatory epidemiology (PE) is an evolving branch of veterinary epidemiology which uses a combination of practitioner communication skills and participatory methods to improve the involvement of animal keepers in the analysis of animal disease problems, and the design, implementation and evaluation of disease control programmes and policies. This review describes the origins of PE and how the application of PE requires attention to both a participatory approach and participatory methods, supported by triangulation of data with conventional veterinary diagnostic methods. The review summarizes the various adaptations and uses of PE, including the design of primary veterinary service delivery systems, veterinary research and disease surveillance. In contrast to conventional data collection methods, an integral aspect PE is the concept of applying and evaluating new disease control programmes or surveillance systems in partnership with animal owners. In the developing regions where PE has been most commonly used, this action-orientated approach raises important challenges for veterinary institutions with limited financial resources. Information derived from PE studies can also question longstanding disease control policies and norms, nationally and internationally.

Community participation and the delivery of veterinary services in Africa

Community participation is now widely promoted as an important feature of aid projects in less-developed countries. However, definitions, uses and expectations of community participation vary considerably among professionals (including veterinarians). A lack of common understanding of community participation hinders the comparison of experiences between projects and can lead to false hopes regarding how community participation should be used and what it might deliver. This paper provides an overview of experiences with community participation in animal-health service development and research in Africa. By examining two types of community-based animal-health intervention, the paper also describes how community participation can vary in veterinary projects and relates this variation to project impact and sustainability. Projects that encourage types of community participation such as interactive participation and self-mobilisation are most likely to result in sustained benefits for livestock keepers.

Impact of drought-related vaccination on livestock mortality in pastoralist areas of Ethiopia.

Under a national Livestock Policy Forum in Ethiopia the impact of livestock vaccination during drought was assessed in order to inform the development of a best-practice guideline. For each of the different types of vaccine used during drought years there was no significant difference in livestock mortality, for any species, in vaccinated compared with non-vaccinated herds. The limited impact of vaccination on livestock mortality was attributed to weaknesses in the design and implementation of vaccination programmes, including use of inappropriate vaccines, low vaccination coverage, problems with vaccine dosing, incorrect timing of vaccination and problems with vaccine storage. If these weaknesses could be overcome vaccination could be a useful means to protect livestock assets, with considerable benefit-cost ratios. Vaccination should be conducted as a standard preventive measure during normal years, and programme design should be informed by participatory epidemiological studies.

Impact of a commercial destocking relief intervention in Moyale district, southern Ethiopia

A commercial destocking intervention was piloted in southern Ethiopia during the drought of early 2006. The intervention led to the purchase of an estimated 20,000 cattle valued at USD 1.01 million. On average, destocked households received USD 186 from the sale of cattle--approximately 5,405 households were involved. In terms of aid investment, the approximate cost-benefit ratio was 41:1. During the drought, income from destocking accounted for 54.2 per cent of household income (n = 114 households), and was used to buy food, care for livestock, meet various domestic expenses, support relatives, and either pay off debts or augment savings. Seventy-nine per cent of the income derived from destocking was used to buy local goods or services. Expenditure on livestock care amounted to 36.5 per cent of local spending, and included the private transportation of livestock to better grazing areas. The buoyant livestock export trade was considered to be an important driver of commercial destocking, demonstrating a positive link between livestock and meat exports, and pastoral vulnerability during drought.

Livestock mortality in pastoralist herds in Ethiopia and implications for drought response

Participatory epidemiology methods were employed retrospectively in three pastoralist regions of Ethiopia to estimate the specific causes of excess livestock mortality during drought. The results showed that starvation/dehydration accounted for between 61.5 and 100 per cent of excess livestock mortality during drought, whereas disease-related mortality accounted for between 0 and 28.1 per cent of excess mortality. Field observations indicate that, in livestock, disease risks and mortality increase in the immediate post-drought period, during rain. The design of livelihoods-based drought response programmes should include protection of core livestock assets, and it should take account of the specific causes of excess livestock mortality during drought and immediately afterwards. This study shows that, when comparing livestock feed supplementation and veterinary support, relatively more aid should be directed at the former if the objective is to protect core livestock during drought. Veterinary support should consider disease-related mortality in the immediate post-drought period, and tailor inputs accordingly.

Brown K, Gilfoyle D and (eds): Healing the Herds: Disease, Livestock Economies, and the Globalization of Veterinary Medicine

Review Through a series of 14 case studies, this multi-authored book examines the history of veterinary medicine and, particularly, the emergence of veterinary services and disease control programs in relation to livestock trade. For the case studies covering China, Australia, and New Zealand, and selected countries in South East Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean, the focus is the colonial era up to the early 1960s or earlier. The case studies often show how advances in veterinary science from the late nineteenth century and technologies such as vaccines enabled large-scale disease control or eradication programs. For countries experiencing these programs for the first time, however, the book proposes that the primary objectives were related to colonial expansion and aims such as the protection of livestock on colonial farms, export trade and, at times, to support the appropriation of land. Only three of the case studies in the book deal with veterinary-related topics in pastoralist areas in Australia and Kenya (two chapters). David Anderson’s chapter on livestock marketing and colonial ambitions, between 1918 and 1948, clearly lays out the broader economic context within which livestock disease control programs were designed and implemented at that time. This chapter also presents a good overview of debates around overstocking and compulsory and voluntary destocking. The chapter by Lotte Hughes describes the forced displacement of Maasai communities from land that was thought to have a lower risk of East Coast fever and therefore was the preferred land for settler cattle. The common theme in these three chapters is the tension between the differing priorities of local herd owners, and those of governments and state veterinary services, and the imposition of disease control strategies often by force. A fourth chapter by Saverio Kratli deals with the history of cattle Catley Pastoralism: Research, Policy and Practice 2011, 1:12 http://www.pastoralismjournal.com/content/1/1/12