ABCs for Disease Control and Prevention (with pictures)
1. Regularly (after every 3 months) deworm your livestock, yourself and not forgetting your pets (dogs and cats). This will go a long way to control dangerous diseases like echinococcosis, coenurosis among others.
Deworming of a goat during a community outreach event organized by the Kenya Veterinarian Association
2. Vaccinate your livestock, your pets and your self against common vaccine-preventable diseases e.g. rabies. Picture this: you did not vaccinate your dog, it gets rabid, it goes ahead to bite your neighbour and a kid in the neighbourhood. The full course of PEP against rabies for your 2 neighbours will cost close to Kshs 30,000. Not forgetting the danger of losing your dog too! You could have prevented all these costs and losing your dog if you had just spent between Kshs 100-2000 in vaccinating your dog and protecting it for a whole year!
Vaccinating a dog during the Laikipia Rabies Vaccination campaign
3. Spray your livestock regularly to keep off vectors such as ticks and ensure to do away with any rodents such as rats which harbour very dangerous pathogens that can affect you or your animals.
An attendant spraying of livestock in one of the livestock markets in western Kenya
4. Always wash your food thoroughly under running clean water, cook food well and serve food while hot!
Infographic courtesy of the ZooLinK project showing washing food and serving while hot
5. Always wash your hands thoroughly with running clean water and soap before eating, handling children and after handling animals or doing any work.
How to thoroughly wash your hands
6. Always wear personal protective equipment (PPE) when handling animals, working in the slaughterhouses, or doing designated works that require protective gear. PPE ensure the safety of you, the animal you are handling and whoever is around you.
Personal protective gear at the slaughterhouse
7. Place a footbath with a disinfectant at the entrance to your animal houses e.g. poultry or at gates of facilities dealing with infectious material to avoid the transfer of these bad germs to other farms.
A footbath in one of the
8. Always isolate dead or sick animals from the herd and immediately inform your animal health practitioner
An isolation area for dead animals at the Mara Training Centre
9. Eat a balanced diet to boost your immunity to be able to defend you optimally. Remember to also give your calf enough colostrum (first milk from the cow) and proper nutrition because your calf/young animal is the future of your herd.
An Ankole calf suckling
10. If its a holiday and you are slaughtering an animal at home, ensure to always call your veterinarian to inspect the meat to avoid getting sick because of eating meat from an infected animal. In case you have symptoms such as stomach pains after eating any food please visit the nearest health centre immediately for a check-up.
A liver fluke being collected from a bile duct as part of the surveillance activities by ZooLinK/ILRI team
11. Finally, always keep your environment clean and throw waste in designated areas. This will avoid our animals getting to eat plastic bags that make them sick (we also thank our Government of Kenya for banning the use of plastic bags).
A huge plastic bag found in the rumen of a cow
Images in this post were taken while working for the following institutions or organisations: International Livestock Research Institute (ZooLinK project), Mara Training Centre, Kenya Veterinarian Association and Mpala Research Centre under the Laikipia Rabies Vaccination campaign.
Are there any tips you’d like to also share on how to prevent and control diseases? Please drop your comment/ideas below.
