Mubamba C, Ramsay G, Abolnik C, Dautu G, Gummow B
Discipline of Veterinary Sciences, College of Public Health Medical and Veterinary Sciences James Cook University, QLD 4811, Australia; Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock, Department of Veterinary Services, Zambia.
School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences and Graham Centre for Agricultural Innovation Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia.
Prev Vet Med. 2018 May 1;153:84-93. doi: 10.1016/j.prevetmed.2018.03.002. Epub 2018 Mar 6.
Syndromic surveillance is a well described tool used in developed countries for alerting authorities to livestock disease incursions. However, little work has been done to evaluate whether this could be a viable tool in countries where disease reporting infrastructure and resources is poor. Consequently, a syndrome-based questionnaire study in Eastern Zambia was designed to gather data on previous encounters farmers had with poultry diseases, as well as control measures they use to mitigate them. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression were used to analyse the data. Farmers reported an overall annual disease incidence in rural poultry for eastern Zambia of 31% (90% CI 29-32%). Occurrence of poultry disease in the last 12 months was associated with use of middlemen to purchase poultry products (p = 0.05, OR = 7.87), poultry products sold or given away from the farm (p = 0.01, OR = 1.92), farmers experiencing a period with more trade of poultry and its products (p = 0.04, OR = 1.70), presence of wild birds near the farm or village (p = 0.00, OR = 2.47) and poultry diseases being reported from neighbouring farms or villages (p = 0.00, OR = 3.12). The study also tentatively identified three poultry diseases (Newcastle Disease, Gumboro Disease and Fowl Pox) from the thirty-four disease syndromes provided by farmers. Farmers reported an incidence of 27% for Newcastle Disease in 2014. When compared with the state veterinary services data which reported Newcastle Disease incidence at 9% in 2014, it seems syndromic data obtained from farmers may be more sensitive in identifying disease incursion. Thirty-six remedies and strategies farmers use to treat and control these diseases were revealed. The main control strategy for identified diseases was vaccination and the main treatment was unspecified herbs, which warrants further investigation and presents an opportunity for further research in ethno-veterinary medicine. More still, this study identified chilli, Aloe Vera, garlic onion, moringa, and ash as traditional remedies that are commonly being used in Eastern Zambia, and which are also used to treat poultry diseases in Zimbabwe and Botswana. Only fourteen remedies described are conventionally accepted by veterinarians as remedies and disease control measures for poultry diseases. This study shows that syndromic data obtained from farmers is a useful disease reporting tool and could be used as an effective means of alerting authorities to disease incursion. In addition, it shows that these data may give a more accurate estimate of incidence for certain diseases than current surveillance methods and could be useful in assessing significant risk factors associated with disease occurrence.
症候群监测是发达国家用于向当局通报牲畜疾病入侵情况的一种广为人知的工具。然而，在疾病报告基础设施和资源匮乏的国家，几乎没有开展工作来评估这是否是一种可行的工具。因此，在赞比亚东部开展了一项基于症候群的问卷调查研究，旨在收集农民此前遭遇家禽疾病的相关数据，以及他们用于缓解疾病的控制措施。使用描述性统计和逻辑回归分析数据。农民报告称，赞比亚东部农村家禽的年疾病发病率总体为31%（90%置信区间29 - 32%）。过去12个月家禽疾病的发生与通过中间商购买家禽产品有关（p = 0.05，比值比[OR]=7.87）、农场出售或赠送的家禽产品（p = 0.01，OR = 1.92）、农民经历家禽及其产品交易更频繁的时期（p = 0.04，OR = 1.70）、农场或村庄附近有野生鸟类（p = 0.00，OR = 2.47）以及相邻农场或村庄报告的家禽疾病（p = 0.00，OR = 3.12）。该研究还从农民提供的34种疾病症候群中初步确定了三种家禽疾病（新城疫、传染性法氏囊病和禽痘）。农民报告2014年新城疫发病率为27%。与国家兽医服务机构报告的2014年新城疫发病率9%相比，从农民那里获得的症候群数据在识别疾病入侵方面似乎更敏感。揭示了农民用于治疗和控制这些疾病的36种补救措施和策略。已确定疾病的主要控制策略是接种疫苗，主要治疗方法是未指明的草药，这值得进一步研究，并为民族兽医学的进一步研究提供了机会。此外，本研究确定辣椒、芦荟、蒜葱、辣木和灰烬是赞比亚东部常用的传统药物，在津巴布韦和博茨瓦纳也用于治疗家禽疾病。兽医常规认可的用于家禽疾病治疗和控制措施的描述只有14种。这项研究表明，从农民那里获得的症候群数据是一种有用的疾病报告工具，可作为向当局通报疾病入侵的有效手段。此外，研究表明，这些数据对于某些疾病发病率的估计可能比当前监测方法更准确，并且可用于评估与疾病发生相关的重大风险因素。
