Mortality in East African shorthorn zebu cattle under one year: predictors of infectious-disease mortality.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Infectious livestock diseases remain a major threat to attaining food security and are a source of economic and livelihood losses for people dependent on livestock for their livelihood. Knowledge of the vital infectious diseases that account for the majority of deaths is crucial in determining disease control strategies and in the allocation of limited funds available for disease control. Here we have estimated the mortality rates in zebu cattle raised in a smallholder mixed farming system during their first year of life, identified the periods of increased risk of death and the risk factors for calf mortality, and through analysis of post-mortem data, determined the aetiologies of calf mortality in this population. A longitudinal cohort study of 548 zebu cattle was cond

SUBMITTER: Thumbi SM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3848692 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature