The study was carried out to investigate the effect of climate variability on the causes of mortality in livestock in the Savannah Agro-Ecological zone of Ghana. Climate data (rainfall, temperature, and humidity) and post-mortem (PM) reports of livestock (N=1366) spanning a period of eleven years were obtained from the Northern Regional Meteorological Agency and the Pong Tamale Central Laboratory, respectively. The PM reports on the causes of mortality were categorized into four main groups: mortality due to bacterial infection, viral infection, parasitic causes, and other causes. The diseases were also categorized according to the body systems most affected, which were the digestive, reproductive, respiratory, nervous, and circulatory. The mean temperature, rainfall, and humidity were in the range of 26.3 and 31.4 °C, 0.0 and 212.1 mm and 27.9 and 81.2%. The temperature humidity index was in the range of 23 and 28. Mortality due to bacteria and parasites was found to be higher when rainfall exceeded 100 mm. In the case of temperature, mortality due to bacteria was highest between 26 and 280C, while that of parasite remained stable with changes in temperature. The mortality due to bacteria was lowest when the humidity was relatively lower (53-62%), while that due to parasites increased when humidity exceeded 65%. In conclusion, increasing temperature and rainfall were found to have a strong influence on the cause of mortality, with bacterial infection being the most affected.

Keywords: Climate variability, Bacteria, Mortality, Parasitic infestation, livestock