Investigation of animal health and husbandry practices in smallholder pig production systems in Timor-Leste

Enhanced pig productivity on smallholder farms is recognised as a necessary strategy to enhance financial and food security in Timor-Leste where poverty and malnutrition are abundant. While poor pig health is recognised as a main constraint, information on pig herd health and management have not been thoroughly quantified. This study surveyed 120 pig owners (63 were female) and 352 of their pigs in Bacau and Bobonaro municipalities in 2018 to develop baseline information. Our analysis investigated three management systems among surveyed pig owners: confined management, characterised by permanent penning and/or tethering pigs (33.6%), semi-confined management (39.7%) and free-roaming management (27.7%). Free-roaming management was only observed in non-urban villages. Most inputs were limited across all management types with heavy reliance on cooked household scraps to feed pigs (84.7%), limited use of commercial feeds (5.1%), a lack of routine pen cleaning (73.8%), a lack of vaccination against classical swine fever (72.9%), limited use of para-veterinary services when pigs were sick (71.7%), and low treatment rates for pig skin diseases (10.3%) and intestinal parasites (8.7%). A high use of uncontrolled breeding (79.1%) was identified, accompanied by a limited knowledge of oestrus (20.7%) and gestation length (24.1%). Low output was observed with animals mainly sold when money is needed or when they were old. There was poor health with high piglet mortality rate (22.4-24.4%), moderate rates of current illness (22.4%), common occurrence of mites (12.2%), and high faecal presence of A. suum (29.0%), T. suis (10.2%), and S. ransomi (22.7%). To overcome the widespread constraints to productivity affecting all management systems, and to limit the impacts of highly infectious and often fatal African swine fever which was first reported in Timor-Leste pigs in September 2019, improved animal health and veterinary support, and education on pig management and suitable available nutrition sources are needed.

Control of Taenia solium; A Case for Public and Private Sector Investment

The zoonotic helminth T. solium is one of the leading causes of acquired epilepsy in endemic countries, resulting in a high burden both in human health and social stigma of affected people (1-3). In 2012 T. solium was highlighted as a priority for control in the World Health Assembly resolution 66.12 (4). Despite a call for validated control strategies by 2015 and a "Tool Kit" of control options being available, relatively few examples of successfully implemented and sustainable control programs are available (5-7). A minimal control strategy focusing solely on the porcine host has also been proposed although the cost-effectiveness of such has yet to be explored (8). Although acknowledgment has been made of the need for initiatives to be sustainable, we are yet to see sufficient consideration of the balance between the provision of public and private goods, and the need for engagement of the people and organizations in the pork value chains within T. solium control strategies. We utilized a food chain risk analysis model to determine the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) in terms of $/infective meal avoided, of combining a pharmaceutical intervention in pigs with strengthened meat hygiene services. The addition of a vaccination and treatment protocol, at an additional 10.3% cost, was illustrated to have the potential to improve the ICER of improving meat inspection by 74.6%. The vaccination and treatment protocol also had the potential to reduce the losses borne by the pork industry of condemned meat by 66%, highlighting the potential to leverage private sector investment in T. solium control.

Integrating market chain assessments with zoonoses risk analysis in two cross-border pig value chains in Lao PDR

Objective

Lao PDR’s recent accession to the World Trade Organization necessitates a greater understanding of the patterns and risk of livestock production in order to better align national policy with the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures. This eco-health study was conducted to improve understanding of the interrelations between market chains and zoonotic infection risks at two strategic cross border points between Lao PDR, Thailand and Viet Nam.

Methods

Information gained from smallholder farmer/trader interviews was integrated with serological surveys for pig-associated zoonoses—including hepatitis E virus (HEV), Taenia solium (T. solium) and trichinella—to identify potential linkages between disease risk and pig production and slaughter in low input systems common across the country.

Results

Trichinella and HEV exposure was high in both humans and pigs in both study areas, significantly associated with pig slaughter and the subsequent consumption and handling of raw pork products. T. solium demonstrated a strong geographical and ethnic association with the northern study area bordering Vietnam. With the right knowledge and accessible, affordable inputs, the majority of smallholder farmers indicated a willingness to invest more in pig production, which could simultaneously improve livelihoods and decrease exposure to HEV, Trichinella, and T. solium through increased access to formal markets and an improved slaughter processes.

Conclusion

The linkages identified when assessing disease risk in the context of potential economic and cultural drivers of transmission highlight the importance of a systems-based approach for the detection and control of zoonotic disease, and contributes to an improved understanding of the Lao PDR livestock sector.