Foot-and-mouth: farmer participation in disease control is a valuable asset

21/09/2011 - Article

Many countries in Southeast Asia, where foot-and-mouth is rife, have a cruel lack of resources to tackle the disease. A recent CIRAD study showed that participatory epidemiology involving local communities is a valuable asset in controlling the disease.

Foot-and-mouth is seen as endemic in most of the countries of Southeast Asia, particularly on the continent. In 2010, numerous foci appeared in the region, with a worrying spread in the Far East, which is usually disease-free.

In Cambodia, in 2010, 138 foci were observed in 19 provinces, with more than 59 000 animals affected. However, this is almost certainly an underestimate: because the impact of the disease is spread out over time, farmers often fail to see it clearly. This is compounded by a lack of financial and human resources within both private and public veterinary services. This under-declaration of the disease, which clouds the picture of the true situation and of changes over time, hampers the drafting of realistic, affordable control strategies.

A recent CIRAD study in Svay Rieng province showed that the participatory epidemiology method developed in grassland zones of East Africa in the 1990s is a good way of overcoming these obstacles. The researchers involved used tools derived from the approach to describe the epidemiological situation regarding foot-and-mouth in various villages. The tools included semi-directive interviews, proportional piling of mortality and morbidity, and matrix scoring. Participatory epidemiology approaches are also based on the principle of triangulation, in which three data sources are crossed: local knowledge, researcher observations, and secondary sources (literature, analyses, etc). This serves to check the quality of the results.

The serological results obtained alongside the surveys served to validate the answers given by farmers and analyse the sensitivity of the participatory method. The method proved useful in understanding the economic factors that influence disease management by farmers. More widespread would enable managers to involve farmers more, and to establish disease control priorities.

Combined with capture-recapture of official data on the latest foot-and-mouth foci in Cambodia, supplied to the OIE by the country, the results of the participatory studies also served to provide a more reliable estimate of the number of villages affected by the disease, estimated at 46% in the province studied.

The tool is a valuable one for helping farmers decide which disease should be given priority in relation to another, and should serve to manage control methods more efficiently. It should also make it easier to raise awareness among farmers of the true impact of the disease, and to monitor disease development depending on the control methods used.

Literature

Bellet C, Vergne T, Grosbois V, Holl D, Roger F, Goutard F. FMD in Cambodia: the use of participatory appraisal to evaluate relative incidence and impacts of the diseases among livestock owners of Svay Rieng province. International Conference on Animal Health Surveillance, Lyon, France, 17-20 May 2011.

Goutard F, Vergne T, Bellet C, Holl D, Grosbois V, Roger F. How to Improve Surveillance in a Challenging Environment? Meeting of the OIE Sub-Commission for Foot and Mouth Disease in South East Asia and China (SEACFMD), Bali, Indonesia, 7-11 March 2011.