Abstract

Assessment on the indigenous knowledge of pastoral communities in Borana and Guji lowlands on contagious caprine pleuropneumonia was done in 2008 using participatory appraisal techniques and conventional disease investigation methods. The participatory appraisal techniques employed were matrix scoring and seasonal calendar. To triangulate the findings during the participatory appraisal, clinical and laboratory examinations were also employed. The matrix scoring and seasonal calendars were standardized and repeated with 20 informant groups. After clinical examinations, serum samples were collected from 9 goats which were infected with contagious caprine pleuropneumonia as per the perception of the informant groups. Disease matrix scoring depicted a good to perfect agreement among the informant groups (W=0.546 to 1.00, p<0.001), indicating that contagious caprine pleuropneumonia affects only goats and possesses high morbidity, coughing and high mortality. Moreover, it showed that there was a good to perfect agreement among the informant groups (W=0.880 to 1.00, p<0.001) depicting no circular movement, diarrhea, and skin damage. Similarly, it was indicated that there was a good agreement among the informant groups (W=0.910, p<0.001) that the occurrence of contagious caprine pleuropneumonia was high during cool dry season locally known as “Adoolessaa” and long dry season locally known as “Bona”. Out of the 9 serum samples of goats, 6 (66.6%) samples showed sero-positivity. Most of the serologically positive goats showed symptoms of nasal discharge, coughing, diarrhea and dyspnea during clinical examination. During the matrix scoring, very few informants identified diarrhea as an indicator. All the informant groups identified nasal discharge and coughing as an indicator for contagious caprine pleuropneumonia. This study indicated that pastoral communities living in Borana and Guji lowlands have detailed indigenous knowledge about contagious caprine pleuropneumonia. Therefore, the combined use of participatory appraisal and conventional methods is very useful for the diagnosis and surveillance of the disease.

Key words: Assessment, Borana, Guji, contagious caprine pleuropneumonia, Ethiopia, participatory approaches.