Veterinary Medicine

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    Evaluation of smallholder dairy farmers’ knowledge, aattitudes, practices (KAP) and factors contributing to hygienic production of raw milk in Malawi’s Blantyre agriculture development division.
    (The University of Zambia, 2025) Chilambula, Enock
    Dairy products provide nutrition to households, but they could also serve as source of milk-borne diseases when produced under poor hygienic conditions. This cross-sectional study was conducted from August to September 2023 to evaluate smallholder dairy farmers’ knowledge, attitudes, practices (KAP), and factors affecting the hygienic milk production in Malawi’s Blantyre Agriculture Development Division (BLADD). A questionnaire was administered to 410 participants in selected districts of Blantyre, Chiradzulu, Mulanje and Thyolo in Malawi to assess knowledge, attitudes and practices. This study collected 90 raw milk which was analysed at Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences to investigate for compliance to Malawi or European Union Standards. Subsequently, a total of 90 small scale farms were visited to observe hygienic milk production. The version 26 Statistical Package for the Social Sciences was used to analyse data Chi square analysis for associated factors of hygienic milk production. A binary logistic regression to determine hygienic milk production predictors and p value of less than 0.05 was considered significant. Majority of 60% participants were females. Most of 86.6% and 66% the respondents had formal education and pre-training respectively. The overall KAP knowledge was only 54%, most smallholder dairy farmers reported positive attitudes at 88% and excellent practices at 63%. Most smallholder dairy farmer in Blantyre Agriculture Development Division (BLADD) had passed aggregate 80% while moderate were successful on composite score of 67%. Few farmers (27%; n=410) had low aggregate score of knowledge, attitude and practice were six (OR=5.910, 95% CI: 1.997-17.489) times less likely to produce hygienic milk. Inadequate pre-training and a low aggregate score were identified as key factors behind the failure of smallholder farmers in BLADD to meet Malawian and European Union (EU) standards, raising concerns about potential milk-borne diseases. Out of 90 raw milk samples analysed for presence of E. coli, 12% and 56% were within acceptable limits of Malawi and European Union standards, respectively. This could be attributed to unsanitary animal quarters, as half of smallholder dairy farmers in Malawi’s Blantyre Agriculture Development Division do not remove waste daily and some workers milk cows without supervision. In conclusion, smallholder dairy farmers had positive attitudes and good milk hygiene practices however, their knowledge was inadequate. Surprisingly, farmers’ milk was contaminated, it was difficult to meet legal limits of Malawi and European Union standards for E. coli. To address this, the study proposed that initial structured training and ongoing annual refresher sessions for dairy farmers coupled with commitment to daily animal barn cleaning to prevent milk borne diseases.
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    “Projecting the effects of non-pharmaceutical interventions and vaccination on COVID-19 control in Lusaka using a mathematical model”.
    (The University of Zambia, 2024) Nsofwa, Mwamba
    The COVID-19 epidemic in Zambia has had significant social and economic impact on the health sector and wellbeing of the population. Hence it is vital to investigate the effect of various Interventions that were implemented to control the spread of the pandemic. Non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) were introduced to help contain the spread of COVID- 19 pandemic in the absence of pharmaceutical interventions. Since then, COVID-19 vaccines have been developed and are readily available globally. Projecting the combined impact of vaccine uptake and NPIs in the control of the COVID 19 pandemic is crucial to support evidence-based policy making. The Vensim Personal Learning Edition (PLE) simulation software was used to create a modified Susceptible-Exposed-Infectious-Recovered (SEIR) mathematical model to show the simultaneous effects of vaccination combined with NPIs such as social distance, hand hygiene and cough etiquette which we termed as behaviour change, and also vaccination with face masking only against COVID-19 in Lusaka. Behaviour change and face masking were simulated at different percentages compliance together with varying vaccine uptake levels of low, moderate and high. Twelve different scenarios for groups of people who practice behaviour change or combined (NPIs) with vaccination and twelve scenarios for face masking with vaccination were modelled. Results from the simulation showed a reduction in the number of both cumulative cases and deaths from the interventions put in place as compared to scenarios without intervention. Furthermore, the basic reproduction number (R0) which was initially set at 2.64 in the model and was reduced to 2.37 in the scenario set at 10% behaviour change with low vaccination rate and 2.34 in the scenario set at 10% behaviour change with high vaccination rate as well as 0.61 in the scenario set at 80% behaviour change with low vaccination rate and 0.55 in the scenario set at 80% behaviour change with high vaccination rate. In the masking with vaccination scenarios, reproduction number was reduced to 2.45 in the scenario set at 10% masking with low vaccination rate and 2.29 in the scenario set at 10% masking with high vaccination rate as well as 1.25 in the scenario set at 80% masking with low vaccination rate and 1.24 in the scenario set at 80% masking with high vaccination rate. These findings highlight the importance of continued adherence to NPIs even when the population is being vaccinated, particularly under scenarios of lower vaccination rates which are influenced by vaccine efficacy, distribution and community hesitancy.
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    Food safety knowledge, attitude and practices of small-scale broiler chicken farmers in Lusaka province-a cross-sectional study.
    (The University of Zambia, 2024) Mvula, M’sampa
    The poultry industry in Zambia is a critical sector for the national economy. Over the last two decades, the country has experienced rapid growth in poultry production with a large share being contributed by small-scale urban producers. Among the major concerns that are related to this development are health issues threatening the consumers of the broiler meat, issues such as Campylobacter spp, Salmonella spp and E. coli spp related food poisoning as a result of poor hygiene during the processing of broiler meat. This study’s objectives were to assess small-scale broiler farmers’ level of food safety knowledge, determine their attitude towards food safety and establish the practices concerning good hygiene during the processing and handling of the broiler carcasses. The study was a cross-sectional study comprising of 146 small-scale broiler farmers in Lusaka Province. Data concerning their food safety knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) as well as their demographic characteristics such as age, gender, level of education and length of doing business in broiler production were collected using a semi-structured questionnaire. Respondents who scored ≥60% of the maximum possible score were categorized as having good knowledge, a positive attitude and good practices. The respondents generally had good food safety knowledge (66.4%), positive attitudes toward food safety (97.9%), and good practices (78.8%) with mean scores of 23 out of 36 (±9), 11 out of 12 (±1.2),16 out of 22 (±3) respectively. Further, the Pearson chi square test of association revealed that the knowledge levels were significantly associated with age, education, gender and length of doing business (p<0.05). Food safety practices were significantly associated with gender and length of doing business(p<0.05).Following a binary logistics regression, predictors of good knowledge were: respondents between 36-45 years old (OR=7.34,95%CI:1.40- 38.42),respondents above 40 years old(OR=8.44,95% CI:1.39-51.20),Secondary school education (OR=0.10,95%CI:0.03-0.33), Tertiary education (OR=0.16,95% CI: 0.06-0.417),5- 10 years in broiler chicken production business (OR=0.32,95% CI:0.10-0.96) and being female(OR=0.26,95% CI:0.10-0.65).The predictors of good practices were: Secondary school education (OR=0.21,95% CI:0.07-0.66) Study findings suggest the need for food safety education on safe poultry meat handling and hygiene among small-scale broiler farmers. This will ensure that the poultry meat produced from these farms is safe for consumption.
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    Detection of extended spectrum beta lactamase producing enterobacterales from diseased chickens and estimation of antimicrobial usage from antibiotics importation and sales data in Lusaka district, Zambia.
    (The University of Zambia, 2024) Chileshe, Chikwanda
    Poultry products in Zambia form an integral part of the human diet in many households, as they are more affordable and easier to produce as compared to other sources of animal protein. However, the burden of poultry diseases has remained a major challenge, hindering the growing consumer demand for poultry products in Zambia. This has resulted in non-prudent antimicrobial use on farms, with the intent to prevent and treat poultry diseases for growth optimization and maximising profits. This study aimed to identify the different types of extended-spectrum -lactamase (ESBL) producing Gram negative bacteria (GNB) causing diseases in chickens in Lusaka and to asses possible association between antibiotic resistance and antibiotic consumption. A cross-sectional study was conducted in Lusaka, which involved the collection of samples from diseased chickens at three different post-mortem facilities. Importation data was gathered from antimicrobial usage (AMU) data collection report from the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock (MOFL) whilst sales data was collected from the largest outlet of veterinary pharmaceutical products in Zambia. A total of 215 samples were collected and screened for GNB. Of these samples, 103 tested positive for various clinically relevant Enterobacterales, including Enterobacter (43/103, 41.7%), Escherichia coli (20/103, 19.4%), Salmonella (10/103, 9.7%), and Shigella (8/103, 7.8%). Other isolated bacteria included Yersinia, Morganella, Proteus, and Klebsiella, which accounted for 21.4%. Only E. coli, Enterobacter, Salmonella, and Shigella were subjected to antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) using the Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion due to their public health significance. The AST results revealed that E. coli, Enterobacter and shigella were highly resistant to tetracycline, ampicillin, amoxicillin, and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, while Salmonella showed complete susceptibility to all tested antibiotics. The observed resistance patterns correlated with antimicrobial usage estimated from the importation and sales data. The broth microdilution test was used to quantify for cefotaxime resistance. Results from this test showed that only fourteen (14/103, 13.5%) were resistant to cefotaxime. Eight of the fourteen isolates were Enterobacter whilst the remaining six were E. coli. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique was then used to screen for the genes blaCTX-M, blaTEM, blaOXA and blaSHV. All Six (6/14, 42.9%) of the E. coli isolates carried the gene blaCTX-M whilst only four carried the gene blaTEM. On the other hand, all eight (8/14, 57.1%) of the Enterobacter isolates carried the gene blaTEM whilst only four of the isolates harboured the gene blaCTX-M. Sanger sequencing of the PCR products revealed that five (5/6,83.3%) of E. coli isolates carried the blaCTX-M-15 allele. These results suggest the presence of pathogenic ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae in poultry, threatening public health.
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    A meta-analysis on the antibiotic resistance patterns of brucella strains in humans.
    (The University of Zambia, 2024) Munang’andu, Mwiza
    Brucellosis is a zoonotic disease threatening livestock productivity and human health, especially in low-income regions. Brucella-induced infections present significant treatment challenges due to the limited intracellular penetration of antibiotics, leading to prolonged treatment durations and elevated risks of treatment failure and relapse. The emergence of antibiotic resistance further exacerbates these challenges, presenting an impending public health threat. This study aims to analyze the global prevalence of antibiotic resistant Brucella strains in humans in order to manage and control antimicrobial resistance. A meta-analysis was performed to assess the prevalence of antibiotic resistant Brucella strains. Peer-reviewed research publications were gathered from the 14th August, 2023 to 12th September, 2023, through a literature search utilizing the following keywords :("Brucella") AND "Antibiotic susceptibility," OR "Antibiotic resistance," OR "Antibiotic sensitivity," OR "Antibiotic activity" OR "Antimicrobial susceptibility" OR "Antimicrobial resistance " OR "Antimicrobial sensitivity " OR "Antimicrobial activity" "Antibacterial susceptibility" OR " Antibacterial resistance " OR "Antibacterial sensitivity" OR " Antibacterial activity" OR " Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing" OR "Microbial Sensitivity" OR "Microbial resistance" OR "Antibiogram") in databases such as PubMed, Google Scholar, and Science-Direct. The study examined online research articles published from 2008 to 2022, specifically concentrating on English studies. A total of 19 eligible studies representing 10 countries and 1, 798 samples were included. Brucella melitensis was isolated in all the studies, with two other Brucella species found in two studies; Brucella abortus in Turkey and Brucella suis in Malaysia. The global pooled prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria was 9% (95% CI: 6-13%). Brucella strains showed the highest antibiotic resistance to macrolides at a prevalence of 58% (95% CI: 0-100%) followed by ansamycins at 35% (95% CI: 17-56%), then betalactams at 7% (95% CI: 0-26%), sulfonamides at 4% (95% CI: 0-19%), aminoglycosides at 1% (0- 1%), and fluoroquinolones, tetracyclines, and cephalosporin at 0% (95% CI: 0-1%). The study observed significant bacterial resistance to macrolides and ansamycins specifically, azithromycin and rifampicin, suggesting the need for an alternate treatment considering that the combination of rifampicin with doxycycline is the recommended treatment of human brucellosis. The study also indicates moderate resistance to sulfonamides and beta-lactams whereas tetracyclines, cephalosporin, fluoroquinolones, and aminoglycosides remain extremely effective.