University of Queensland researchers are helping restore the Mozambique cattle industry decimated by civil war and severe floods.
Efforts to re-establish the industry have been hampered because up to half the imported cattle have died within a year from tick-borne diseases.
Dipping programs for cattle ticks have failed for reasons including the destruction of dip tanks during the war and the shortage of both water and experienced dip-tank attendants.
The University’s involvement was triggered by the AusAID-sponsored enrolment of Mozambican student Alberto Nota Alfredo whose Master of Philosophy on the control of ticks and tick-borne diseases in livestock is being supervised by Dr Nick Jonsson from the School of Veterinary Science.
With funding from The Crawford Fund, the University, VetAid and the Direccao Nacional de Pecuaria (DINAP), Dr Jonsson and Mr Alfredo visited Mozambique in February to conduct training courses on ticks and tick-borne diseases.
Dr Jonsson said 38 people, mostly veterinarians and veterinary technicians, had attended the two-day courses held in both the Bilene and Tete provinces.
The courses included a theory session, visit to a dip tank, tick collection and identification, the taking of blood samples and a laboratory examination of the samples, as well as a lively discussion about government policy relating to disease control.
“The theory sessions provided useful background information, and most delegates had little previous experience with the collection of suitable diagnostic samples for tick-borne disease diagnosis,” Dr Jonsson said.
As well as helping return cattle production in Mozambique to pre-war levels, the research into diseases such as babesiosis, anaplasmosis, cowdriosis and theilerioisis will also benefit the Australian cattle industry, Dr Jonsson said.
“Some problems are shared with Australia and insights into factors that limit tick control in Mozambique will also prove to be very useful for researchers and cattle producers here,” he said.
Media: For more information, contact Dr Nick Jonsson (telephone 07 3365 5719) or Brad Turner at UQ Communications (telephone 07 3365 2659).
