Eiki Ndahambelela, Sebola Nthabiseng Amenda, Sakong Bellonah Motshene, Mabelebele Monnye
Department of Agriculture and Animal Health, College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, University of South Africa, Florida, Roodepoort 1725, South Africa.
Vet Sci. 2021 Jun 4;8(6):99. doi: 10.3390/vetsci8060099.
Livestock represents an important sector for the livelihood of sub-Saharan African countries' inhabitants. In these countries, farmers raise livestock to meet household food demands and as additional sources of incomes, but its production is hampered by rampant animal diseases. The impact of animal diseases is particularly severe for poor communities that, although relying heavily on livestock, have limited access to modern veterinary services and therefore rely on indigenous medicines for the treatment of livestock ailments. The current review focuses on the ethnoveterinary health management practices found amongst livestock producers in sub-Saharan Africa. Documents were sourced from Google databases. A total of 56 documents were reviewed, most of which were published recently (after 2000). The documents revealed the wide use of ethnoveterinary medicines among livestock producers in sub-Saharan African countries because of their cost and accessibility, threats to ethnomedicinal plant species through improper harvesting methods, overexploitation, the existence of inappropriate ethnoveterinary practices, and methods of conserving ethnomedicinal species. Given the persistent threats posed to ethnoveterinary medicine and/or practices in developing countries of sub-Saharan Africa, the findings of this review highlight the importance of integrating and promoting the use of ethnoveterinary medicine that is likely to be lost if it is not given enough importance. It is also important to obtain an overview of recent publications on ethnoveterinary medicines to identify the gaps and scope required to be filled by future studies. It is envisaged that the review will stimulate further ethnoveterinary research among livestock disease management practices, which could lead to new pharmaceuticals in the region.
畜牧业是撒哈拉以南非洲国家居民生计的重要部门。在这些国家，农民饲养牲畜以满足家庭食物需求并作为额外收入来源，但其生产受到猖獗的动物疾病的阻碍。动物疾病对贫困社区的影响尤为严重，这些社区虽然严重依赖牲畜，但获得现代兽医服务的机会有限，因此依靠本土药物治疗牲畜疾病。本综述聚焦于撒哈拉以南非洲牲畜养殖户中发现的民族兽医学健康管理实践。文献来源于谷歌数据库。共审查了56份文献，其中大部分是近期（2000年以后）发表的。这些文献揭示了撒哈拉以南非洲国家的牲畜养殖户广泛使用民族兽用药物，原因包括其成本和可及性、不当采收方法、过度开发对民族药用植物物种造成的威胁、存在不恰当的民族兽医学实践以及民族药用物种的保护方法。鉴于撒哈拉以南非洲发展中国家的民族兽医学和/或实践持续面临威胁，本综述的结果凸显了整合和推广民族兽用药物使用的重要性，若不给予足够重视，这些药物可能会失传。获取关于民族兽用药物的近期出版物综述，以确定未来研究需要填补的空白和范围也很重要。预计该综述将激发牲畜疾病管理实践方面进一步的民族兽医学研究，这可能会在该地区催生新的药物。
