Risk Factors for African Swine Fever in Smallholder Pig Production Systems in Uganda
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Date
2017
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Transboundary and emerging diseases
Abstract
Smallholder pig production in Uganda is constrained by poor management and
high disease burden, with African swine fever (ASF) being one of the most important
contributors. However, data to develop appropriate evidence-based disease
mitigating interventions along the pig value chain are lacking. This study aimed
at determining risk factors associated with the occurrence of outbreaks of ASF in
selected districts. A cross-sectional survey of 1195 pig-keeping households in three
districts was carried out between April and July 2013. Households were classified
into one of three value chain domains (VCDs) based on where the production
was located and where most of the products were sold: rural-rural (R-R), ruralurban
(R-U) and urban-urban (U-U). Findings revealed that crop farming is the
most common primary activity in the R-R and R-U VCDs, while pig keeping was
the most common primary activity in the U-U VCDs. Pigs are mostly kept tethered
or left to roam in the R-R and R-U VCDs, while in the U-U VCDs, they are
mostly confined in corrals. Nearly 20% of the farmers whose farms were hit by an
ASF outbreak subsequently sold all their pigs (healthy and sick) to the market in
panic. Factors that positively correlated with recent ASF outbreaks were prompt
disposal of dead pigs on farms (P < 0.001, OR = 2.3), wild animals present in the
village (P < 0.001, OR = 1.7) and farmers sourcing drugs from stockists
(P < 0.001, OR = 1.6); while protective factors were the presence of perimeter
fences (P = 0.03, OR = 0.5), attendance of farmers at secondary-school level and
above (P < 0.001, OR = 0.6), routine cleaning of the pig pens (P < 0.001,
OR = 0.6) and pigs being the only livestock kept by farmer (P = 0.01, OR = 0.7).
Given the current situation, there is a need to raise awareness among farmers and
other value chain actors of biosecurity measures and create incentives for farmers
to report ASF cases.
Description
Keywords
African swine fever, Biosecurity, Pig, Value chain, Uganda
Citation
Dione, M. M., Akol, J., Roesel, K., Kungu, J., Ouma, E. A., Wieland, B., & Pezo, D. (2017). Risk factors for African swine fever in smallholder pig production systems in Uganda. Transboundary and emerging diseases, 64(3), 872-882. doi:10.1111/tbed.12452