Community based interventions against Tsetse and Trypanosomiasis on the Jos Plateau Nigeria

The project aims to develop novel ways of controlling animal trypanosomiasis. The Jos plateau in Nigeria is a heavily populated area home to almost a million cows kept by settled pastoralists who live alongside subsistence farmers. Trypanosomiasis causes severe production losses in livestock in this area, as it does through out Sub Saharan Africa. It affects the livelihoods of the poorest and most disenfranchised populations living in rural communities. The parasites that cause trypanosomiasis are transmitted by tsetse flies feeding on blood from an infected host. Treatment of the disease is both affordable and effective: a single treatment with a cheap injectable drug is sufficient to clear the animal of all circulating trypanosomes Therefore, although these parasites are a double constraint to development, their control is equally of double benefit to humans and their livestock. In the absence of large scale tsetse control programmes, sustainable methods of trypanosomiasis control need to be found. It is not appropriate or possible to treat every animal without the risk of resistance to the drugs developing. It is thus necessary to target interventions to high-risk carriers of disease amongst livestock and wildlife. In this project, we aim to (i) maximise livestock health through integrated disease management (ii) Identify the major risk factors for trypanosomiasis at different times and locations iii) formulate a policy for effective government support of community based disease management. The project will enable policy makers, public institutions, communities and individual smallholder farmers to identify appropriate and cost-effective methods for the sustainable farmer based control of trypanosomiasis in livestock.

Livestock underpin poor rural livelihoods in sub-Saharan Africa, but animal health is constrained by both epidemic and endemic diseases. The former are managed by national and regional control programmes whereas individual farmers control endemic diseases, with communities and local organisations providing support in decentralised and privatised systems. Animal trypanosomiasis constitutes a major endemic problem in tsetse-infested regions, reducing livestock product yields and devaluing farmers' investments - costing livestock producers and consumers an estimated US$1340 million annually. The Jos Plateau in North-Central Nigeria is a major cattle keeping area, holding ~ a million cows ( 7% of the national herd) kept by settled pastoralists practicing seasonal migration. It became tsetse infected in the early 1980's and trypanosomiasis is a recent problem in the area. While trypanosomiasis can be seen as a dual constraint to rural development its control presents a double benefit: improvements in livestock health having positive outcomes for human health well-being and development. We aim to develop novel integrated control strategies based on an understanding of the epidemiology of trypanosomiasis in domestic livestock, Epidemiological theory will be integrated with quantitative field studies where pastoralists contend with trypanosomiasis and co-exist with subsistence farmers in an area with high land pressure. Research will target (i) pastoralists for whom simple and practical decision support tools are needed for livestock management and (ii), district and national level policy makers requiring decision support for endemic disease control.

Livestock underpin livelihoods of the poor in rural Africa, providing meat, milk, manure draught power, and can be key financial and social assets. Without veterinary support, up to 25% of herds/flocks are lost to disease each year, amounting to US$120-$180 per annum per farmer - highly significant for those living on less than $1 per day. Animal trypanosomiasis reduces offtake of animal protein and other products. Animal trypanosomiasis is estimated to cost livestock producers and consumers US$1.3 billion annually, reducing livestock product yields and devaluing farmers' investments. Thus, from individual to government level control of human and animal trypanosomiases would have a large beneficial impact on economic development and animal health. Unlike top-down methodologies, farmer-based approaches to trypanosomiasis control are sustainable and have less environmental impact. Many poor people consider livestock the best option for escaping poverty and livestock play a major role in reducing vulnerability, either being sold to meet exceptional expenses or to mitigate the effects of crop failure. Livestock are popular investments for participants in credit programmes and are widely favoured by NGOs as a means of reducing poverty. Animal trypanosomiasis imposes a disproportionate burden on Fulani pastoralists as they often rely on livestock as their sole source of livelihood. Pastoralist women are also severely affected by the effects of trypanosomiasis on milk yields as they trade in dairy products. The project will include an extensive training programme including 2 post graduate positions at PhD level. In-service clinical training in diagnostic and therapeutic procedures for animal trypanosomiasis for federal, state and local government veterinary and scientific staff participating in veterinary and medical cross-sectional studies and veterinary longitudinal observational and intervention studies. Enumerators will receive basic training in socioeconomic methodologies required for household surveys and economic studies. The project will have the following key outputs which will impact on the control of animal trypanosomiasis in the Sahel region of sub-Saharan Africa: (i) a comprehensive new understanding of transmission of trypanosomiasis on the Jos Plateau (ii) a new set of intervention methodologies for control of animal trypanosomiasis calibrated and validated for use in the Sahel region of West Africa; (iii) appropriate-technology decision support tools for diagnosis and treatment of animal trypanosomiasis validated for use in this transmission zone; (v) quantitative estimates of the economic burden of animal trypanosomiasis; (vi) Framework for effective, sustainable support of community based disease control strategies by government agencies. These outputs will be made available through appropriate dissemination pathways as a package of decision support tools appropriate for medical and veterinary policy makers, primary animal healthcare providers and rural populations in Africa. Dissemination pathways will include workshops, project reports, peer-reviewed scientific publications, press releases and briefing of local, governmental and international institutions. Dissemination will commence as soon as results become available in the second year of the project and continue until its conclusion .Finally, the project will provide CPD training to scientific and veterinary staff in Nigeria.