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. 2024 Feb 22;19(2):e0297274.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0297274. eCollection 2024.

Higher livestock abortion burden in arid and semi-arid lands, Kenya, 2019-2020

John Gachohi  1   2   3 , Peris Njoki  2 , Eddy Mogoa  4 , Fredrick Otieno  5 , Mathew Muturi  5   6   7 , Athman Mwatondo  5   6   8 , Isaac Ngere  2   3 , Jeanette Dawa  2   3 , Carolyne Nasimiyu  2   3 , Eric Osoro  2   3 , Bernard Bett  5 , Kariuki Njenga  2   3
Affiliations

Higher livestock abortion burden in arid and semi-arid lands, Kenya, 2019-2020

John Gachohi et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Tracking livestock abortion patterns over time and across factors such as species and agroecological zones (AEZs) could inform policies to mitigate disease emergence, zoonoses risk, and reproductive losses. We conducted a year-long population-based active surveillance of livestock abortion between 2019 and 2020, in administrative areas covering 52% of Kenya's landmass and home to 50% of Kenya's livestock. Surveillance sites were randomly selected to represent all AEZs in the country. Local animal health practitioners electronically transmitted weekly abortion reports from each ward, the smallest administrative unit, to a central server, using a simple short messaging service (SMS). Data were analyzed descriptively by administrative unit, species, and AEZ to reveal spatiotemporal patterns and relationships with rainfall and temperature. Of 23,766 abortions reported in all livestock species, sheep and goats contributed 77%, with goats alone contributing 53%. Seventy-seven per cent (n = 18,280) of these abortions occurred in arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs) that primarily practice pastoralism production systems. While spatiotemporal clustering of cases was observed in May-July 2019 in the ASALs, there was a substantial seasonal fluctuation across AEZs. Kenya experiences high livestock abortion rates, most of which go unreported. We recommend further research to document the national true burden of abortions. In ASALs, studies linking pathogen, climate, and environmental surveillance are needed to assign livestock abortions to infectious or non-infectious aetiologies and conducting human acute febrile illnesses surveillance to detect any links with the abortions.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Distribution of the 18 counties (in which the 523 wards lie) selected by agroecological zone.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Proportion of livestock abortions (%) across 18 counties of Kenya, 2019.
Fig 3
Fig 3. Proportion of abortion events (%) by county across all livestock species in Kenya 2019.
Fig 4
Fig 4. Abortions per 100,000 cattle (left), sheep (middle) and goats (right) across counties in Kenya 2019–2020.
Fig 5
Fig 5. Weekly abortion events per 1,000,000 in cattle, sheep and goats reared in the ASAL zones (top panel) and in the non-ASAL zones (agro-alpine/humid and high and medium potential AEZs) (bottom panel), in Kenya 2019–2020.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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