An infectious disease of sheep and goats threatening livelihoods

The rural Somali Region of Ethiopia is characterised by arid and semi-arid landscapes, recurrent droughts, resource scarcity, and nomadic pastoral and agro-pastoral communities. These communities’ livelihoods strongly depend on livestock for food security, income, and social status. During the dry season, when food and water become scarce, animals are more vulnerable to infectious diseases.

Among the many livestock diseases affecting the region, peste des petits ruminants (PPR) is of particular concern. It is highly contagious and can spread rapidly through flocks of sheep and goats, causing severe illness and death in large numbers of animals. For families who depend on small ruminants, this can threaten their livelihood. While a low-cost, safe, and effective vaccine exists to protect animals against PPR, the challenge is ensuring that enough animals are vaccinated in time to prevent the disease from spreading. Ideally, the first case would be recognised quickly, the symptoms would be linked to PPR, and surrounding flocks would be vaccinated immediately to create a circumjacent barrier against the spread of infection. From a human resources perspective, this requires community members with disease awareness and trained community-based vaccinators.

Read more at: https://www.cabidigitallibrary.org/do/10.5555/blog-female-leadership-prr-vaccination-ethopia-somali/full/