Chenais Erika, Fischer Klara
Department of Disease Control and Epidemiology, National Veterinary Institute, Uppsala, Sweden.
Department of Urban and Rural Development, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.
Front Vet Sci. 2018 Jun 7;5:119. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2018.00119. eCollection 2018.
Cattle disease can have severe negative impacts on the livelihoods of the poor, but still, animal disease management and outreach often remain suboptimal in low-income settings. In a study on Basongora pastoralists in Uganda, we examined local priorities, perceptions and practices regarding cattle disease, in order to improve outreach and disease control advisory work in such contexts. We also investigated how participatory epidemiology can be better equipped for gathering situated knowledge. Empirical material obtained in focus group discussions, interviews, participatory mapping, and wealth-ranking was used to perform a thematic, bottom-up analysis. The concepts of situated knowledge and embodied objectivity and insights from participatory research and interdisciplinary dialogue were applied to better embrace local perspectives. Cowdriosis, trypanosomosis, contagious bovine pleuropneumonia, East Coast fever and anthrax were high-priority diseases for participants. Lack of control over the animal health situation and money invested in treatments that did not guarantee recovery were of general importance for disease prioritization. Participants' descriptions of diseases sometimes diverged from textbook definitions. Co-infections, chronic and recurring infections and lack of access to formal knowledge were identified as important factors for differences between formal and situated knowledge. Paying attention to situated knowledge and particular context-specific issues such as proximity to a national park proved to be of special relevance for local understanding and experiences with disease. Another factor was the local importance ascribed to number of cattle, rather than production levels. These factors need to be taken into consideration when formulating disease control advice, as does the complex disease landscape. The results reveal the importance of moving research and advice beyond curing "knowledge-gaps" and creating different ways of understanding disease so that situated knowledge can be considered, and disease control improved.
牛病会对贫困人口的生计产生严重负面影响，但在低收入地区，动物疾病管理和推广工作往往仍不尽人意。在一项针对乌干达巴松戈拉牧民的研究中，我们调查了当地关于牛病的优先事项、认知和做法，以便在这种情况下改善推广工作和疾病控制咨询服务。我们还研究了如何能让参与性流行病学更好地获取实地知识。通过焦点小组讨论、访谈、参与性绘图和财富排名获得的实证材料被用于进行主题式的自下而上分析。实地知识和具体体现的客观性概念以及参与性研究和跨学科对话的见解被应用于更好地接纳当地观点。牛焦虫病、锥虫病、传染性牛胸膜肺炎、东海岸热和炭疽是参与者认为的高优先级疾病。对动物健康状况缺乏控制以及在无法保证治愈的治疗上投入资金，在疾病优先级确定方面具有普遍重要性。参与者对疾病的描述有时与教科书定义不同。共感染、慢性和复发性感染以及无法获取正规知识被确定为正规知识与实地知识存在差异的重要因素。事实证明，关注实地知识以及特定的具体背景问题（如靠近国家公园）对于当地对疾病的理解和体验尤为重要。另一个因素是当地对牛数量而非生产水平的重视。在制定疾病控制建议时，这些因素以及复杂的疾病情况都需要考虑在内。研究结果表明，将研究和建议从弥补“知识差距”拓展开来，创造不同的疾病理解方式，从而能够考虑实地知识并改善疾病控制，这具有重要意义。
