24
DairyPost Africa • May 2014
ECF vaccine
– good – but tick control, curative
drugs and other tick-transmitted
diseases must be considered too …..
By Dr. Nick McHardy
A
n unsigned article in the JanuaryMarch edition of DairyPostAfrica
introduced a new “vaccine” to
prevent East Coast fever (ECF) that would
also enable farmers to reduce their dipping
programme substantially. Drugs have been
used for the past 30 years to cure ECF, but
they were hardly mentioned. Experience
suggests that control of ECF requires all
three of these approaches and the best
combination will vary between farming
systems, the degree of risk of ECF and their
relative cost. The other tick-transmitted
diseases must be considered too.
Spraying or dipping with acaricides kills
the ticks that transmit ECF, but it also
controls those that transmit anaplasmosis,