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Plant and animal health |
Presented by Kum Sylvester Beng
Following observations from previous years, outbreaks of various poultry diseases usually swept through the whole of the North West province of Cameroon decimating whole flocks,
and leaving a lot of families without any birds. In this part of Cameroon, it is very difficult to find a household, which does not keep chickens. This is because chickens here are not only used for food and petty cash needs, but most importantly are invaluable for carrying out traditional rites.
Poultry disease outbreaks usually occur twice a year: at the beginning of the rainy season (March-April) and at the beginning of the dry season (October-November). The most common disease symptoms observed are: impaired breathing usually accompanied by coughing, diarrhoea (white, red and green diarrhoea), and worms.
In a bid to alleviate this situation a team of researchers from the Cameroon Institute of Agricultural Research for Development decided to try out some ethno-veterinary practices. Ethno-veterinary medicine (EVM) study is a development-stage operation of Cameroon Institute of Agricultural Development (IRAD)-Bambui, and it is engaged in developing traditional (ethno-veterinary) pharmaceuticals identified through a discovery process, focussed on making use of indigenous plants with a history of medicinal use. This process has resulted in several products among clinical trials, which is: EVM I
The EVM operation targets specific plants, which have been used for medicinal purposes by indigenous peoples. An important element in this study is the correlation between folk therapeutic classification of plants used and the percentage of those plants that have shown antimicrobial activity. These resultant products support the importance of ethno- veterinary investigation as a source for drug discovery and highlights indigenous knowledge as a key element in local livestock healthcare by the pastoralists of the North West Province of Cameroon.
However, a striking recurrent feature observed while carrying out EVM studies with our pastoral communities is the constant struggle to acquire land rights, adequate food and health. We believe that the success of EVM research and drug development in the Highland regions of Cameroon will be increasingly and intimately linked to the welfare and management of natural forest and grassland habitats by local and indigenous peoples.
The most logical starting point for assigning priority within plant collections is the knowledge of the local and indigenous people who live in and around the heavy cattle producing regions of the North West Province. The methodology comprises the following steps: Before any research expedition, we prepare a full regional study on the epizootiology, traditional veterinary medicine, culture and ecology of the people and the environment in which they live. Once in the field, the team of researchers and technicians meet the Fulani traditional authorities, field staff of the Ministry in charge of livestock (MINEPIA) and well known and proven ethno veterinarians (ethno veterinarians usually serve as our informants).
They work together on a highly focused data collection strategy. The goal of this method is to identify and collect plants with the highest probability of possessing activity in selected areas. This integrated system is aimed at maximizing the probability of new drug discovery. At this juncture the veterinarians on the team prepare case presentations of livestock diseases identified before the trip in epizootiological reports. These brief case descriptions of specific diseases are presented to the ethno veterinarians. Interviews with the informants are conducted very carefully, using as much as possible no technical veterinary terminology for diseases while presenting the cases. The focus is on the recognition of common signs and symptoms. A translator for the Fulani language cannot be over emphasized in the execution of this phase. Fortunately for us we have an IRAD Bambui will read veterinary technician, (Mr. Sali Django) himself a Fulani, who is not only a member of this team, but an enthusiastic translator and interpreter for this operation.
Once an informant has recognized and described the same or similar disease condition, the herbal treatment for that condition is recorded. If several and reliable informants describe a similar treatment for a disease, the plant is collected in a plant press. The names of these plants are first recorded in Fulfulde, for eventual scientific taxonomy. Following is an evaluation of an oral drug "EVM" 1. This is an ethno veterinary oral product for the prophylaxis and treatment of:
This ethno veterinary powder among other ingredients contains garlic, ginger, chilli pepper (Capsicum annum) and papaw seeds (Carica papaya).
Households of collaborating farmers in five villages were selected on the basis that each of them kept at least 5 chickens. The villages concerned were Bambui, Ndop, Jakiri, Kumbo and Ndu. Each sachet of the product EVM I weighed 100gr to be fed to a group of 5 chickens, either in water or in feed (depending on the household). The farmers were selected by the field staff of the Ministry of Agriculture, working in the on-going National Agricultural Extension and Research Support Programme (PNVRA). Farmer selection had to be carried out by them in order to facilitate effective follow-up and data collection. As the poultry disease outbreak was imminent, each household was given sachets of the product, the number depending on the number of chickens they kept. It was impossible to select any groups of chickens to be kept aside as control because no farmer wanted to take the risk of losing any birds. They were all instructed by the extension staff on the usage of the product, and after which each household received a questionnaire which had to be filled at the end of the outbreak. The results below are indicative of the efficacy of this product. The most striking observation is that most of the farmers who did not use this product and were not covered by orthodox veterinary drugs lost almost all their chickens. The request by farmers to make this drug available to them at all cost is quite high.
Observation of an ethno veterinary treatment of some poultry diseases in the North West Province of Cameroon:
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Symptoms |