Peter M. Mathiu

Medicinal plants used in the management of chronic joint pains in Machakos and Makueni counties, Kenya

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE Traditional medicines play an important role in the management of chronically painful and debilitating joint conditions, particularly in the rural Africa. However, their potential use as sources of medicines has not been fully exploited. The present study was carried to find the medicinal plants traditionally used to manage chronic joint pains in Machakos and Makueni counties in Kenya. MATERIALS AND METHODS To obtain this ethnobotanical information, 30 consenting traditional herbal medical practitioners were interviewed exclusively on medicinal plant use in the management of chronic joint pains, in a pre-planned workshop. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION In this survey, a total of 37 plants belonging to 32 genera and 23 families were cited as being important for treatment of chronic joint pains. The most commonly cited plant species were Pavetta crassipes K. Schum, Strychnos henningsii Gilg., Carissa spinarum L., Fagaropsis hildebrandtii (Engl.) Milve-Redh. and Zanthoxylum chalybeum Engl. Acacia mellifera (Vahl) Benth., Amaranthus albus L., Balanites glabra Mildbr. & Schltr., Grewia fallax K. Schum., Lactuca capensis, Launaea cornuta (Oliv. & Hiern) O. Jeffrey, Lippia kituiensis Vatke, Pappea capensis Eckl. & Zeyh. and Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br. are documented for the first time as being important in the management of chronic joint pains. CONCLUSIONS The findings of this study show that a variety of medicinal plants are used in the management of chronic joint pains and the main mode of administration is oral.

Some Causes of Poor Performance and Chick Mortality in Farmed Ostriches in Alabama (USA) and Kenya

Commercial ostrich farming is rapidly becoming a desirable alternative source of profitable meat production among smallholder farmers. However, ostrich ranching, particularly, ostrich production is severely constrained by a very high chick mortality rate (up to 40 %). To help rural farmers including those in the developed countries such a s United States of America gain a successful foothold in this potentially lucrative farming enterprise, the causes of chick mortality must be identified and controlled. The present collaborative study was designed to characterize and compare disease causes of mortality in chicks in smallholder ratite farms in Macon and adjoining Counties of Alabama and some selected localities in Kenya. The study established that, in both Alabama (USA) and Kenya, ostrich farmers incur losses of considerable magnitude from a wide range of causes, some of which could not be established. Losses are experienced right from the embryonic stages whereby embryos may develop poorly causing death before hatching. In USA, hatchability was 72 % while in Kenya; hatchability was only 56 % on average. In Kenya, a high mortality rate in the early weeks of life ( The Kenya Veterinarian Vol. 28 2005: pp. 6-10