Research Articles

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Department of Food Science and Postharvest Technology, Gulu University

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Browsing Research Articles by Subject "Health management strategies"

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    Alone or a combination: ascertaining factors associated with choice of pig health management strategies amongst smallholder farmers in northern Uganda.
    (Elsevier, 2022-12-17) Okello-Owiny, David; Ndyomugyenyi, Elly Kurobuza; Odongo, Walter; Aliro, Tonny; Okello, Daniel Micheal
    Pig production is an important farm enterprise for an increasing number of smallholder farmers due to its potential for improving household incomes. The sector is however faced with high burden of health issues that limit most farmers from realizing the benefits. In order to improve management of pig health for smallholder farmers, an understanding of the major health issues and factors associated with farmers' choice of the pig health management strategies are paramount. Using a cross-sectional survey of 240 smallholder pig farmers in northern Uganda, this study assessed the factors associated with the use of different pig health management practices adopted by smallholder pig farmers. Data analysis involved descriptive statistics and two different regression models. Binary Probit Regression model was used to assess factors associated with the use of a single pig health management strategy, while, Generalized Poisson Regression model was used to assess the factors associated with the number of pig health management strategies used by the farmers. Results showed that the common health issues were African Swine Fever, lice, worms and mange, while the common strategies for health management involved self-administering antibiotics, consulting veterinarians, deworming, spraying with acaricides, selling the sick pigs, treatment with local herbs, and burying dead pigs. These pig health management strategies were influenced by farmers location, experience, age, access to extension, use of information and communication technologies, and use of processed feeds. This study recommends improving farmers' access to relevant information and expanding veterinary extension services by promoting the use of radio and mobile phones in pig health management.
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    Hepatitis E viral infection in pigs from north-eastern Uganda: a case study of Amuria and Napak Districts.
    (Medwell Publications, 2022-01-17) David O., Owiny; Patrick, Etiang; Peter, Waiswa; Gabriel, Tumwine; Charles D., Kato; Peter, Cheli; Mary G., Kulume; Francis O., Inangolet; Joseph, Erume; Pius, Okello; Kokas, Ikwap
    Hepatitis E is a zoonotic viral disease and swine are regarded as the major reservoirs. The aim of this study was to find out the sero-prevalence and risk factors of HEV in pigs from Napak District in Uganda where an outbreak of human HEV was reported in 2013/2014 and in the neighboring district of Amuria. Additionally, farmers’ level of awareness and knowledge about livestock hepatitis was investigated. A total of 352 sera samples were tested; 302 from Amuria and 50 from Napak using a commercial indirect ELISA kit (ID vet, France). A pretested structured questionnaire was administered to a total of 139 respondents at every site of sample collection. The sero-prevalence was 84% in Napak and 14.6% in Amuria. Overall prevalence was 24%. The sero-prevalence was significantly higher in Napak as compared to Amuria District (p<0.05, χ2 = 112.0056). Therefore, pigs more likely to be seropositive were from Napak District (p = 0.000, OR = 30.334, CI = 11.847-77.672) and those from households without latrines (p = 0.02, OR = 3.482, CI = 1.568-7.733). In addition, 8.6% of the respondents knew of hepatitis in livestock and 7.9% knew that it spreads to humans. Meanwhile, 1.4% were aware of its possible control in humans by vaccination. This study reported a high sero-prevalence of HEV than previously reported in Uganda and a very low level of awareness among respondents about hepatitis in livestock. The study recommends other studies to identify more risk factors of infection, genotyping of the HEV and sensitizing communities about viral hepatitis in livestock.