School of Pure and Applied Sciences, Department of Biological Sciences, South Eastern University College (A Constituent College of the University of Nairobi), P.O. Box 170-90200, Kitui, Kenya.
J Ethnopharmacol. 2012 Mar 27;140(2):298-324. doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2012.01.021. Epub 2012 Jan 24.
To date, nomadic communities in Africa have been the primary focus of ethnoveterinary research. The Bukusu of western Kenya have an interesting history, with nomadic lifestyle in the past before settling down to either arable or mixed arable/pastoral farming systems. Their collective and accumulative ethnoveterinary knowledge is likely to be just as rich and worth documenting.
The aim of the present study was to document indigenous knowledge of the Bukusu on the effect of livestock ticks and ethnopractices associated with their management. It was envisaged that this would provide a basis for further research on the efficacy of these practices that could also lead to the discovery of useful tick-control agents.
Non-alienating, dialogic, participatory action research (PAR) and participatory rural appraisal (PRA) approaches involving 272 women and men aged between 18 and 118 years from the Bukusu community were used.
Ticks are traditionally classified and identified by colour, size, host range, on-host feeding sites, and habitat preference. Tick-associated problems recognised include kamabumba (local reference to East Coast fever, Anaplasmosis or Heartwater diseases transmitted by different species of livestock ticks) and general poor performance of livestock. Traditional methods of controlling ticks include handpicking, on-host use of ethnobotanical suspensions (prepared from one or more of over 150 documented plants) to kill the ticks and prevent re-infestation, fumigation of infested cattle with smoke derived from burning ethnobotanical products, burning pastures, rotational grazing ethnopractices, and livestock quarantine.
The study confirms that the Bukusu have preserved rich ethnoveterinary knowledge and practices. It provides some groundwork for elucidating the efficacy of some of these ethnopractices in protecting livestock from tick disease vectors, particularly those involving the use of ethnobotanicals, which may lead to the discovery of useful ant-tick agents.
迄今为止，非洲的游牧社区一直是民族兽医研究的主要关注点。肯尼亚西部的布库苏人有着有趣的历史，他们过去是游牧民族，后来定居下来，从事耕地或混合耕地/畜牧业农业系统。他们的集体和累积的民族兽医知识可能同样丰富，值得记录。
本研究旨在记录布库苏人对牲畜蜱虫的影响的本土知识以及与管理相关的民族习俗。预计这将为进一步研究这些做法的效果提供基础，也可能导致发现有用的蜱虫控制剂。
采用非异化、对话、参与式行动研究 (PAR) 和参与式农村评估 (PRA) 方法，涉及布库苏社区 272 名年龄在 18 至 118 岁之间的男女。
蜱虫传统上按颜色、大小、宿主范围、宿主上的取食部位和栖息地偏好进行分类和识别。识别出的与蜱虫相关的问题包括 kamabumba（东海岸热、安氏立克次体病或心水病的当地参考，由不同种类的牲畜蜱虫传播）和牲畜普遍表现不佳。控制蜱虫的传统方法包括手动挑选、在宿主上使用民族植物学悬浮液（由超过 150 种记录植物中的一种或多种制备）杀死蜱虫并防止再次感染、用燃烧民族植物学产品产生的烟雾熏蒸受感染的牛、焚烧牧场、轮牧民族习俗和牲畜检疫。
该研究证实，布库苏人保留了丰富的民族兽医知识和实践。它为阐明其中一些民族习俗在保护牲畜免受蜱虫病媒介方面的效果提供了一些基础，特别是那些涉及使用民族植物学的习俗，这可能导致发现有用的抗蜱剂。
