35
Boophilus spp.), immunisation of animals through infection-and-treatment methods (ITM), breeding of TBD-resistant animals, and the strategic use of acaricides to
balance the need to eliminate ticks versus the need to raise the endemic stability of
TBDs in the livestock populations. There are ongoing studies to develop new vaccines to replace ITM.
RVF can be reliably controlled using livestock vaccination but its episodic occurrence, a predilection for remote, pastoral areas and lack of forward planning and
pre-allocation of emergency funds in most animal health institutions cause a lot of
delays in response. An assessment of emergency vaccination programmes that were
implemented following the 2006/2007 outbreak in Kenya (Gachohi et al. 2012) as
well as those deployed during the recent RVF scare in 2016/2017 showed that livestock vaccination was implemented late and at very low levels to attain sustainable
herd immunity. It has now been realised that the administration of livestock vaccination as part of emergency response measures during periods of heightened RVF risk
does not provide beneficial outcomes. They fall short of achieving critical levels of
coverage that are required for the establishment of protective immunity. Research is
underway to determine alternative vaccination strategies for RVF that might involve
periodic vaccination in the high-risk areas in place of reactive or emergency vaccinations. In this case, reactive vaccinations can be used strategically to complement
periodic vaccination following warnings for El Niño in East Africa or La Niña in
South Africa.
Animal health programmes need to be underpinned by efficient surveillance systems which promptly detect and report disease occurrence patterns for action, and
guide the prioritisation of interventions to geographical regions or periods where/
when interventions can yield desirable outcomes. There have been multiple uncoordinated efforts towards improving disease surveillance and the development of risk
maps and contingency plans in the target areas to help in rationalising interventions.
New surveillance systems based on citizen science methods and cloud computing
offer great opportunities for identifying the distribution of these infectious diseases;
they might also provide clues on how to deploy measures for multiple diseases at
the same time. In addition, these systems can be programmed to provide input data
for real-time disease forecasting, enabling decision-makers to plan more effectively
for impending disease risks. This would require analysing such surveillance data
with climate and land use/land cover data as predictors to generate dynamic risk
maps.
3.4 Conclusions and Implications for Development
Climate change is expected to increase the risk of many vector-borne diseases,
including those of RVF and TBDs. It is also likely to reduce the effectiveness of
some of the control measures—such as vector control efforts—and hence decision
makers need to be sensitized more on how to make the best use of the existing interventions, as more research is implemented to determine optimal control options. A
3 Climate Change and Infectious Livestock Diseases…
Boophilus spp.), immunisation of animals through infection-and-treatment methods (ITM), breeding of TBD-resistant animals, and the strategic use of acaricides to
balance the need to eliminate ticks versus the need to raise the endemic stability of
TBDs in the livestock populations. There are ongoing studies to develop new vaccines to replace ITM.
RVF can be reliably controlled using livestock vaccination but its episodic occurrence, a predilection for remote, pastoral areas and lack of forward planning and
pre-allocation of emergency funds in most animal health institutions cause a lot of
delays in response. An assessment of emergency vaccination programmes that were
implemented following the 2006/2007 outbreak in Kenya (Gachohi et al. 2012) as
well as those deployed during the recent RVF scare in 2016/2017 showed that livestock vaccination was implemented late and at very low levels to attain sustainable
herd immunity. It has now been realised that the administration of livestock vaccination as part of emergency response measures during periods of heightened RVF risk
does not provide beneficial outcomes. They fall short of achieving critical levels of
coverage that are required for the establishment of protective immunity. Research is
underway to determine alternative vaccination strategies for RVF that might involve
periodic vaccination in the high-risk areas in place of reactive or emergency vaccinations. In this case, reactive vaccinations can be used strategically to complement
periodic vaccination following warnings for El Niño in East Africa or La Niña in
South Africa.
Animal health programmes need to be underpinned by efficient surveillance systems which promptly detect and report disease occurrence patterns for action, and
guide the prioritisation of interventions to geographical regions or periods where/
when interventions can yield desirable outcomes. There have been multiple uncoordinated efforts towards improving disease surveillance and the development of risk
maps and contingency plans in the target areas to help in rationalising interventions.
New surveillance systems based on citizen science methods and cloud computing
offer great opportunities for identifying the distribution of these infectious diseases;
they might also provide clues on how to deploy measures for multiple diseases at
the same time. In addition, these systems can be programmed to provide input data
for real-time disease forecasting, enabling decision-makers to plan more effectively
for impending disease risks. This would require analysing such surveillance data
with climate and land use/land cover data as predictors to generate dynamic risk
maps.
3.4 Conclusions and Implications for Development
Climate change is expected to increase the risk of many vector-borne diseases,
including those of RVF and TBDs. It is also likely to reduce the effectiveness of
some of the control measures—such as vector control efforts—and hence decision
makers need to be sensitized more on how to make the best use of the existing interventions, as more research is implemented to determine optimal control options. A
3 Climate Change and Infectious Livestock Diseases…