Maternal antibody uptake, duration and influence on survival and growth rate in a cohort of indigenous calves in a smallholder farming system in western Kenya☆

نویسندگان

  • Philip Toye
  • Ian Handel
  • Julia Gray
  • Henry Kiara
  • Samuel Thumbi
  • Amy Jennings
  • Ilana Conradie van Wyk
  • Mary Ndila
  • Olivier Hanotte
  • Koos Coetzer
  • Mark Woolhouse
  • Mark Bronsvoort
چکیده

The passive transfer of antibodies from dams to offspring via colostrum is believed to play an important role in protecting neonatal mammals from infectious disease. The study presented here investigates the uptake of colostrum by 548 calves in western Kenya maintained under smallholder farming, an important agricultural system in eastern Africa. Serum samples collected from the calves and dams at recruitment (within the first week of life) were analysed for the presence of antibodies to four tick-borne haemoparasites: Anaplasma marginale, Babesia bigemina, Theileria mutans and Theileria parva. The analysis showed that at least 89.33% of dams were seropositive for at least one of the parasites, and that 93.08% of calves for which unequivocal results were available showed evidence of having received colostrum. The maternal antibody was detected up until 21 weeks of age in the calves. Surprisingly, there was no discernible difference in mortality or growth rate between calves that had taken colostrum and those that had not. The results are also important for interpretation of serosurveys of young calves following natural infection or vaccination.

برای دانلود رایگان متن کامل این مقاله و بیش از 32 میلیون مقاله دیگر ابتدا ثبت نام کنید

ثبت نام

اگر عضو سایت هستید لطفا وارد حساب کاربری خود شوید

منابع مشابه

Does Participation in Farmer Field School Extension Program Improve Crop Yields? Evidence from Smallholder Tea Production Systems in Kenya

Agricultural Extension services are among the most important rural services in developing countries. The services are considered to be a key driver of technological change and productivity growth in agriculture. In Kenya, like in the rest of the developing economies, agricultural extension has largely been delivered through supply–driven approaches. Due to perceived low impact of agricultural e...

متن کامل

Effectiveness of Extension Services in Enhancing Outgrowers’ Credit System: A Case of Smallholder Sugarcane Farmers in Kisumu County, Kenya

The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of extension services in enhancing effectiveness of out growers’ credit system in Kisumu County, Kenya. The study specifically sought to determine whether public and private extension services play a significant role in enhancing effectiveness of out-growers’ credit system among smallholder sugarcane farmers. A total of 110 small scale farme...

متن کامل

Socio-Economic Factors Influencing Adoption of Energy–Saving Technologies among Smallholder Farmers: The Case of West Pokot County, Kenya

Fuel wood provides the main source of energy for cooking and space heating for over 80 percent of households living in Kenya. The heavy reliance on the biomass energy has exerted an imbalance in demand and supply consequently resulting in adverse environmental effects in Kenya. As part of innovation efforts, several energy-conserving technologies have been developed. A unique cook stove named M...

متن کامل

Study on duration of maternal antibodies in calves against Bovine Herpes virus (BHV-1)

In order to estimate the mean of maternal antibody in calves against BHV-1 (Bovine Herpes virus type 1), this study was carried out in a population of calves from non-vaccinated dairy cattle at 2 livestock in Qazvin province. One hundred thirteen sera out of 512 were collected from 1-4 months unvaccinated calves. We used Blocking –Percentage of maternal antibodies against BHV-1, which obtained ...

متن کامل

A longitudinal assessment of the serological response to Theileria parva and other tick-borne parasites from birth to one year in a cohort of indigenous calves in western Kenya

Tick-borne diseases are a major impediment to improved productivity of livestock in sub-Saharan Africa. Improved control of these diseases would be assisted by detailed epidemiological data. Here we used longitudinal, serological data to determine the patterns of exposure to Theileria parva, Theileria mutans, Babesia bigemina and Anaplasma marginale from 548 indigenous calves in western Kenya. ...

متن کامل

ذخیره در منابع من


  با ذخیره ی این منبع در منابع من، دسترسی به آن را برای استفاده های بعدی آسان تر کنید

عنوان ژورنال:

دوره 155  شماره 

صفحات  -

تاریخ انتشار 2013