http://amestrib.com/news/isu-researchers-study-effects-disease-climate-change-east-african-camel-herds
Posted February 21, 2015 - 11:09pmUpdated February 23, 2015 - 11:34am
ISU researchers study effects of disease, climate change on East
African camel herds
Paul Plummer, an assistant professor of veterinary diagnostic and
production animal medicine, is studying the effects of climate change
and disease on the camel population in East Africa. Photo courtesy of
Paul Plummer.
image
By Julie Ferrell
Staff Writer
jferrell_at_amestrib.com
Researchers at Iowa State University are studying the impact of major
diseases and climate change on camel herds in East Africa.
Paul Plummer, assistant professor of veterinary diagnostic and
production animal medicine, is conducting the work as part of the
Camel Adaptation and Medicine in the East African Landscape Project,
which was formed in the hopes of eventually providing more veterinary
care and equipment in countries such as Ethiopia, Somalia, Djibouti,
Eritrea and Sudan. Plummer is collaborating with ISU researchers Drs.
Mike Yaeger and John Coatney on the project.
Since last April, the group has tested more than 3,000 camels in the
area as a way to build a database of local diseases or parasites.
Plummer said the second part of the research has involved talking with
camel herders to learn what their top priorities are for protecting
their herds.
Because the area of land is severely prone to drought, camels are the
major source of livestock for East African farmers. Plummer said
herders often do not own land or a farm, “because there’s no way to
settle and grow vegetables in a drought.” But with diminishing grazing
land, herders are walking camels longer distances to find grass, which
could lead to malnutrition. At the same time, the camels are
susceptible to a range of respiratory diseases.
In some areas, Plummer said, up to half of a camel herd could die
before reaching maturity, and up to one-third of a herd is often
impacted by disease. While goats are also occasionally used as
livestock in the area, Plummer said the camel population is crucial to
herders’ survival.
“From the owner’s perspective, these livestock represent their bank
account,” he said. “It’s very remote, so they don’t really own
property. They would see the goats as more of the $1 to $5 animal, and
the camels are the $100 to $1,000.”
Several diseases have been recorded in the area, including respiratory
diseases like pneumonia as well as what Plummer called a “lameness
issue,” which he said is most likely associated with a plant’s
toxicity.
There is currently little veterinary care for the animals in the area,
and the second phase of the research will be implementing new
innovations to help herders improve their livestock. But the trick,
Plummer said, is implementing change for diseases the herders are
concerned about, not necessarily diseases the U.S. may find the most
troubling.
Plummer noted the concern surrounding the Middle East Respiratory
Syndrome (MERS), a virus increasingly tied to camels, from his
colleagues in the U.S.
“When people learn that I’m researching camels, they say ‘Are you
looking at that MERS virus?’ We can see MERS in the camels in East
Africa but to date, there is no evidence of human disease in the
area,” Plummer said. “So that’s a perfect example where we look and
think it’s really important, but the herders there could care less
because it’s not killing their herd.”
Plummer said the first phase of research is scheduled to end later
this year, and the group hopes to collect 5,000 samples by the end of
the study.
The research is being funded by the United States Agency for
International Development Feed the Future Innovation Laboratory for
Adapting Livestock to Climate Change, which is based out of Colorado
State University. Plummer and his team are currently working with the
Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture’s National Animal Health Diagnostic
and Investigation Center.
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Received on Sun Mar 01 2015 - 21:29:57 EST