Browsing by Author "Magona, J.W."

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    Knowledge and Perceptions of Smallholder Dairy Farmers of Cattle Disease Burdens in Selected Agro-Ecological Zones of Uganda
    (Uganda Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 2012) Kirunda, H.; Kabi, F.; Muwereza, N.; Kabuuka, T.; Magona, J.W.; Lukwago, G.
    Diseases have continued to affect production and productivity in smallholder dairy farming systems in Uganda. This study sought to establish farmers knowledge and perceptions of disease burden in the Eastern Semi-Arid Zone (ESAZ), Lake Victoria Basin (LVB) and Western Rangelands (WR) agro-ecological zones (AEZs). A structured questionnaire was administered to 150 farm household heads or cattle attendants. Data analysis by cross tabulations was done using SPSS Statistical Software and descriptive statistics generated in XLSTAT. Linear Discriminant analysis and Multivariate Analysis of Variance were computed to establish significant relationships (P<0.05) between variables. East Coast fever (ECF), calf scours, foot rot, mastitis and fascioliasis were reported of high prevalence (>50%), while brucellosis and eye infection had low prevalence (<16.7%). Season, age and breed of cattle were significantly associated with severity, morbidity, mortality and treatment costs in all AEZs. Morbidity and mortality were higher during the long (4.5; 0.7) than short rains (3.1; 0.6), respectively. Comparatively, average treatment costs were higher during the short rains (US$ 22) compared to long rains (US$ 17) each rains lasting three months. Results of our study show that some diseases were common to all AEZs, yet ESAZ had a higher disease burden than WR and LVB.
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    Sero-prevalences of Tick-borne infections among the Nkedi Zebu and Ankole cattle in Soroti district, Uganda
    (The Journal of Protozoology Research, 2008) Kabi, F.; Magona, J.W.; Nasinyama, G.W.; Walubengo, J.
    This cross-sectional study was conducted to establish and compare the antibody titres and sero-prevalences of tick-borne infections among randomly selected Nkedi Zebu and Ankole cattle in the six villages of Akumoi, Aswii, Kamod, Osamito, Okokoma and Opungure in Soroti district, Uganda. The antibody titres were established using the indirect antibody detection ELISA tests. The Nkedi Zebu had a significantly higher mean antibody titre against T. parva infection (1.8 ± 0.1) compared to the Ankole cattle (1.2 ± 0.1). While the mean antibodies titres of Ankole against B. bigemina and A. marginale infections (2.2 ± 0.04, 0.05 ± 0.05) respectively were very similar to those of the Nkedi Zebu cattle (2.1 ± 0.05, 0.06 ± 0.05) respectively. Sero-prevalences of East Coast Fever, babesiosis and anaplasmosis (100%, 100%, 58%) among the Ankole cattle were quite similar to those of Nkedi Zebu cattle (99%, 100%, 57%) respectively. This study has demonstrated that the Nkedi Zebu are better primed to produce antibodies against T. parva as compared to the Ankole cattle, thus extra control strategies for tick-borne infections need to be instituted if the Ankole cattle are to be reared successfully in this agro-pastoral farming system.