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Title: | Heartwater: A situation report of the Southern district of Botswana from 2017 to 2019 | Authors: | Isabella Ramotadima Joseph Hyera Marvelous Sungirai Kebaneilwe Lebani Botswana International University of Science and Technology, Department of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, Private Bag 16, Palapye, Botswana Botswana Vaccine Institute, Private Bag 0031, Gaborone, Botswana Midlands State University, Department of Animal and Wildlife Sciences, P. Bag 9055, Gweru, Zimbabwe Botswana International University of Science and Technology, Department of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, Private Bag 16, Palapye, Botswana |
Keywords: | Heartwater Amblyomma hebraeum Ehrlichia ruminantium Botswana Tick-borne disease Management |
Issue Date: | 17-Jun-2023 | Publisher: | Elsevier | Abstract: | Heartwater is a tick-borne haemoparasitic disease that can limit agro-business expansion in Botswana. It poses a threat to national food security due to low animal production as well as livestock morbidity and mortality. This report gives a snapshot view of heartwater in the Southern district of Botswana. Ixodid ticks parasitizing live- stock in four Southern sub-districts of Botswana were collected and identified using morphological and molecular methods. A wide distribution of Amblyomma hebraeum in all four Southern sub-districts was revealed. The annual number of heartwater cases across the Southern district of Botswana was determined from veterinary clinical case reports and confirmed through Giemsa-stained brain smears. A concerning gradual annual increase in heartwater cases was shown in the Moshupa sub-district - a hardveld terrain with rock outcrops where the vector thrives. Goats were affected most (55%) by heartwater followed by sheep (37%) and then cattle (8%). Farmers were interviewed on the management of the heartwater burden within their respective sub-districts and they reported that their animals were affected by heartwater despite 17 out of the 27 farmers interviewed attempting to control vectors through acaricide use. The presented heartwater situation warrants further investigation of the prevalence of heartwater and the effectiveness of existing disease control interventions in the disease-endemic Southern district of Botswana. | URI: | https://cris.library.msu.ac.zw//handle/11408/5760 |
Appears in Collections: | Research Papers |
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File | Description | Size | Format | |
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HEARTWATER.pdf | Full-text | 1.82 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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