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| The Context |
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Who?
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When?
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Gastroenteritis is a disease of domestic ruminants caused by infection with a number of parasitic nematodes or worms living in the abomasum and small intestine. It is causes massive production losses in small ruminants in sub-Saharan Africa, as well as worldwide. A large number of poor farmers keep sheep and goats in the semi-arid summer rainfall areas of Southern Africa, where Haemonchus roundworms are one of the worst constraints to production. These farmers are mainly women and 60% are under 20. They are struggling to maintain their animals as many of their men have left to find work in the cities.
Production losses due to roundworms result from a combination of factors, such as death of stock or reductions in growth rate, impaired reproductive capacity or poor carcass quality. The efficiency of feed conversion, and therefore the optimum use of animal feed resources, is also reduced by this disease, and made even worse during the dry winter period (June to August) when grazing is scarce.
Roundworms are more dangerous than tapeworms and goats get roundworms when they ingest the immature worms on the grass. These immature worms grow into adult worms in the animal and then feed on the proteins and, or, blood of their host. Young animals are most badly affected.
Cost-effective and appropriate control methods for roundworms (and gastro-intestinal parasitism in general) would be of considerable benefit to rural family livelihoods. The application of strategic drug treatment for the control of parasitic gastro-enteritis has been shown to improve production in small ruminants in sub-Saharan Africa , as have improvements in the nutritional status of goats. However, reports of widespread anthelmintic resistance in the commercial sheep farming sector of South Africa have now appeared and caused alarm. Drug resistance has also surfaced in sheep and goats raised under resource-poor conditions.
Partly to slow down the rate of development of anthelmintic resistance, attention is being directed towards a holistic approach to parasite management, involving sustainable integration of options which reduce the reliance on frequent drug use. |
| Methods |
Helping young women farmers to keep healthier goats
Farmers are being encouraged to observe their flocks closely and then helped to decide on what action to take.
What signs do you see ?
- Bottle jaw
- Paleness of the mucous membranes (anaemia)
- Diarrhoea
- Animals in poor body condition
- Worms seen in the intestines of dead animals
What is the treatment and prevention ?
Scientists in South Africa have come up with a three-pronged attack on roundworms:
- Using roundworm remedies
- Better nutrition
- The FAMACHA© system of treating anaemic individual animals
Worm remedies are still the key to worm control. Animals in good condition, that are well fed are less affected by worms than poorly fed ones. Giving animals supplementary feed, including a protein supplement, especially during times of food scarcity has been shown to improve the animals' ability to withstand the effects of worm infection whilst the animals builds a natural immunity.
The FAMACHA© system has been developed in South Africa in response to the emergence of severe worm remedy (anthelmintic) resistance.
FAMCHA uses a series of pictures of the eye showing different degrees of anaemia. The paler the eye the more sick the animal. A simple card with the pictures is placed alongside an animal's eye and the farmer matches the eye colour to the nearest on the card. Each picture has an action written alongside which the farmer reads and follows.
The technique is one where only the sickest animals are treated. The others are left to recover and build immunity. This saves money, time and avoids over use of drugs as you do not have to treat the whole flock. |
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| For more information see the FAMACHA© Information Guide |
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| Support and Resources Required |
The support required especially includes getting messages across to woman animal keepers and also needs an innovative approach. This involves production of:
- A picture manual (to cover basic procedures, abortions, abscesses, foot rot, heartwater, mastitis, orf, & coccidiosis, pneumonia, pulpy kidney, prolapses, tetanus and roundworms)
- A booklet on Worms in your goats, sheep and cattle
It also needs the help of a variety of agents involved in disseminating information. Thus there is an important role for NGO's, schools and commercial and government organizations. |
| Costs and Benefits |
This approach requires excellent observation skills from the animal keeper and a willingness to make decisions. Both of these require confidence that comes from training and practise. There are also cash costs as drugs are still required although in much smaller quantities. There may be scope for collaboration between farming families to share both the costs of inputs and responsibilities in making the right decision. The potential benefits are however enormous with less roundworms converting into more and healthier animals which means more meat, milk and income.
Extra sales mean more money for school fees and better staple foods. Healthier animals also means less time wasted in looking after sick ones and time to pursue other money earning opportunities like handicrafts or vegetable growing. |
| Risks |
There are risks in adopting a strategy that appears complex. Women farmers may lack the experience and confidence to make decisions about how to treat stock. This could lead to inaction and poor timing of treatments so that they are less effective and costly. Farmers will need good advice and short-term support to make the correct decision at least for the first 1 or 2 seasons. It is important that this advice is successful so that in subsequent seasons there is a cadre of experienced farmers in the community to whom others could turn for help. |
| Alternatives |
Scientists are conducting trials to examine options for controlling roundworms including:
- Strategic treatment before the peak of faecal egg counts
- Supplementing animals with urea-molasses blocks
- Management practices that reduce the grazing of young stock on contaminated pastures and keeping grass short to avoid recontamination
Training in the use of these techniques would be required, and this is a field where NGO and government extension service support to farmers would be valuable. |
| Impacts |
The impact of this type of information and the support that goes with helping small livestock owners decide how and which animals to treat is potentially enormous. The incomes and lifestyles of young unconfident women who look after the sheep and goats in the semi-arid parts of South Africa are likely to substantially change for the better. The approach also has application throughout similar areas in Africa and for different parasitic worm problems.
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| Policy Implications |
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| References and Further Reading |
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| Related Research Projects |
This information is part of a series on small stock that cover disease-nutrition interactions.
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Controlling trypanosomosis in Sheep & Goats is more important than extra feeding |
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| R6342 |
Best Feeding Practices to help animals fight Trypanosomosis |
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| R6358 |
The Decision Tree that Helps counter the threat of Trypanosomosis |
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| R6561 |
Helping lambs to control stomach worms before they get sick |
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| R6608 |
Feeding Tree Fodder to beat liver Fluke |
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| R7424 |
Farmers can use Tannins to kill parasitic worms |
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| R8151 |
Sensible use of drugs and feeding to stop roundworms killing sheep & goat |
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