Brucella sero-prevalence and modifiable risk factors among predisposed cattle keepers and consumers of un-pasteurized milk in Mbarara and Kampala districts, Uganda.

Background: Brucellosis is an important zoonotic disease in developing countries yet it is often not recognized, goes unreported and does not attract public health action by these governments including Uganda.

Objective: To estimate the sero-prevalence and assess modifiable risk factors associated with Brucella seropositivity in cattle keepers and consumers of unpasteurized milk in Uganda.

Methods: One group comprised of 161 individuals randomly selected from households living on farms that had Brucella sero-positive cattle and/or goats in Mbarara District from an earlier survey; the second group comprised of 168 randomly selected individuals attending an HIV voluntary counseling and testing clinic in Kampala District.

Treating cattle to protect people? Impact of footbath insecticide treatment on tsetse density in Chad.

Background: In Chad, several species of tsetse flies (Genus: Glossina) transmit African animal trypanosomoses (AAT), which represents a major obstacle to cattle rearing, and sleeping sickness, which impacts public health. After the failure of past interventions to eradicate tsetse, the government of Chad is now looking for other approaches that integrate cost-effective intervention techniques, which can be applied by the stake holders to control tsetse-transmitted trypanosomoses in a sustainable manner. The present study thus attempted to assess the efficacy of restricted application of insecticides to cattle leg extremities using footbaths for controlling Glossina m.

Effects of season and agro-ecological zone on the microbial quality of raw milk along the various levels of the value chain in Uganda.

Dairy production in Uganda is pasture-based and traditional Ankole cattle make up 80% of the cattle herd, reared in both pastoral and agro-pastoral ecological zones. Regardless of the zone, milk quality is lowest in production basin during the dry season when ambient temperatures are highest and water is scarce. Poor hygiene and quality management contributed to the deterioration of raw milk quality during its storage and delivery to the final consumer, and concealed the seasonal effect when milk reached urban consumption areas.