Browsing by Author "Wesonga, F.D."
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Item Harvesting Indigenous Knowledge for Community Development: Lessons from the Maasai Pastoralists of Narok, Kenya(2006) wanjala, K.B.; Wesongah, J.O; Chemuliti, J.; Wesonga, F.D.This project was designed to determine management of small ruminant diseases among the Maasai people of Narok district. Emphasis was on establishing the status of the community indigenous knowledge and its relevance and/or implication for use III development projects. Data collection involved direct observation, interviews with 80 farmers and 4 key informants from the research Site Findings indicate that farmers depended entirely on natural vegetation to produce small ruminants the most common small ruminant diseases m the area were east coast fever, trypanosomosis and diarrhoeal diseases. Disease management involved use of manufactured drugs and ethno-medicine. There was also widespread use of locally made ma1lng control devices to ensure that only desired traits were passed on The project observes that some aspects of indigenous knowledge may be adopted in development projects, some may be adopted after validation research while some aspects of the knowledge may !under successful project development and hence need corrective action.Item How to Control Heartwater Disease(Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization, 2017) Ndungu, S.G.; Wesonga, F.D.; Rumberia, R.M.; Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research OrganizationIt is a disease of domestic and wild ruminants such as cattle, sheep, goats, buffaloes, antelopes etc. It is the second most important tick-borne disease in terms of mortality after East Coast Fever (ECF). It occurs in all Sub-sahara Africa, carribean islands and in the islands surrounding.The disease is caused by a parasite called Erhlichia (Cowdria) ruminantum. In domestic ruminants the disease is very severe and will cause death if not treated.Item National Agricultural Research Project KARI/DFID Tick-Borne Diseases Project the Effect of Immunisation against East Coast Fever and Relaxed Tick Control on the Incidence of Tick-Borne Diseases in Nakuru District, Kenya(Kenya Agricultural Research Institiute, 1998) Rumberia, R.M.; Mbogo, S.K.; Wesonga, F.D.; Ndungu, S.G.; Muraguri, R.G.; Kenya Agricultural Research InstituteEast Coast fever (ECF) caused by the protozoan parasite Theileria parva and transmitted by the brown tick Rhipicephalus appendiculatusis the major disease of cattle which limits dairy and beef production in Eastern, Central and Southern Africa. Conventional control methods of the disease rely on regular and intensive use of chemical acaricides to control the vector of the disease. Infected animals can be treated using chemotherapeutic drugs when applied early in the disease. Both of these methods are expensive and have several limitations. An alternative control method which involves infection and treatment immunisation method has proved efficacious both at the laboratory and field level. The method involves infection of an animal with live Theileria parva parasites and simultaneous treatment with oxytetracyclines. The resulting immune response coupled with sub-lethal natural challenge generally protects animals against the disease for life. Currently, this is the only practical method available for immunisation against ECF.Item Theileria Parva Infection Seroprevalence and Associated Risk Factors in Cattle in Machakos County, Kenya(Springer Nature, 2014) Wesonga, F.D.; Gachohi, J.M.; Kitala, P.M.; Gathuma, J.M.; Njenga, M.J.; Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI); International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI); University of NairobiThe principle objective of this study was to estimate the infection seroprevalence and identify risk factors associated with Theileria parva infection in cattle on smallholder farms in Machakos County, Kenya. A total of 127 farms were selected by a proportional allocation approach based on the number of farms in four divisions in the county previously selected by stratified random sampling method. Subsequently, a total sample of 421 individual animals was randomly selected from the farms. Information on animal and relevant individual farm management practices was gathered using a standardized questionnaire. Prevalence of serum antibodies was determined using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Multivariable logistic models incorporating random effects at the farm level evaluated the association between the presence of T. parva antibodies and the identified risk variables. The overall estimation of T. parva antibodies in the county was 40.9 % (95 % confidence interval of 36.1, 45.7 %). Seroprevalence to T. parva was significantly associated with animal age, vector tick infestation in the animal, tick control frequency, and administrative division. Further analyses suggested a confounding relationship between administrative division and both breed and grazing system and the T. parva seropositivity. Random effects model yielded intra-farm correlation coefficient (ICC) of 0.18. The inclusion of farm random effect provided a substantially better fit than the standard logistic regression (P = 0.032). The results demonstrate substantial variability in the T. parva infection prevalence within all categories of the cattle population of Machakos County of Kenya, where East Coast fever is endemic.
