Tick and tick-borne disease challenges in Africa
The burden of tick and tick-borne diseases (T&TBDs) on the economies and livelihoods of all those involved in the livestock industry in Africa remains significant.
Trans-boundary movement of animals and migration and re-settlement of livestock farmers are contributing to the expanding the distributional ranges of ticks as well as the increasing tick-borne disease incidences.
Poor veterinary and healthcare services, inadequate monitoring and surveillance programs targeting T&TBDs, deforestation and human encroachment on wildlife habitats, tick resistance to acaricides, and climate change.
Current tick monitoring and surveillance programs are sporadic, uncoordinated and limited in terms of geographical coverage. Moreover, inter-territorial T&TBD sampling protocols that facilitate data comparison and risk assessment.
The surveillance and research of ticks and tick-borne disease has been mostly exclusionary because the benefits of involving rural communities and small-scale farmers, who are heavily burden by ticks and tick-borne diseases have been ignored.
Cultural practices associated with ethnoveterinary practices, including ethnoveterinary medicines, are not properly documented and are disappearing quickly
Anticipated impacts
Collaborators
i. Publication and dissemination of research outputs.
ii. Collaboration with a wide range of partners at local, regional, and international levels.
iii. Training and mentoring of students.
iv. Provision of a platform for sharing of ideas and for promoting collaborative work.
v. Contribution to the efforts required for ongoing management of T&TBDs in Africa.
vi. Establishment of strategic partnerships with universities, research centers, communities, farmers, volunteers, policy makers, and students
vii. Publish open access datasets
Our consortium members are from the following organizations
Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Cape Town, South Africa
Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro, Tanzania
Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda