| dc.description.abstract | Livestock accounts for about 17% of agricultural value added and 4.3% of GDP. 58% of the households depend on livestock for their livelihoods (MAAIF AND UBOS,2018) as cited by (Gerald Nizeyimana and Ana Felis, 2019). Livestock industry however has constraints one of it being production diseases/conditions. Mastitis is one of the most prevalent in dairy animals, however information on economic burden of this disease is limited to developing countries (Miyama et al., 2020). It is an economically important disease due to its impact in the quantity and quality of milk production. It has Implications on the profitability of dairy, financial loss and public health significance. Farmers however are not well informed about the serious invisible loss from sub clinical mastitis (Abera, 2020). This has greatly inspired the study in chema subcounty, Kapchorwa district among the dairy farmers. A crossectional study was conducted in chema subcounty, Kapchorwa district to determine the prevalence of subclinical
mastitis and its associated risk factors in dairy cows. A study of 148 dairy cows both lactating and dry were screened using CMT. Out of 148 dairy cows, 60 tested positive for CMT with prevalence of 40.5% at cow level. Out of 588 quarters screened, 119 tested positive with prevalence of 20.24% at quarter level. Out of 592 teats examined, 4 (0.68%) were blind teats.
The prevalence among number of parities was 10.8%, 3.4%, 6.1%, 20.3% in 1, 2, 3, ≥4, respectively. This variation was statistically significant (p <0.001). Teat injuries, lactation stage and history of mastitis were also considered as major intrinsic factors that influenced the prevalence of subclinical mastitis. Their variation was statistically significant (p < 0.05).
Milking practises, farm hygiene, farmers knowledge on subclinical mastitis were also evaluated. Out of 50 farmers interviewed, 100% cleaned teats and udder before milking. 20% used cold water only, 40% used warm only, 26% used warm water and soap, and 14% used cold water and soap. Some farmers Cleaned housing units/ floors of their animals daily, weekly, and monthly with 70%, 26%, and 4% respectively. None of the farmers were aware of subclinical mastitis, and none conducted teat disinfection before and after milking. Creating awareness among people on subclinical mastitis and basic principles of mastitis control and
prevention program could help minimise the occurrence of the disease thus improving profitability of dairy industry. | en_US |
