Assessment of the Safety and Efficacy of Muguga Cocktail Vaccine on Pastoralists’ Cattle in Narok County, Kenya

Abstract

A five-month prospective longitudinal clinical study was carried out to assess the safety and efficacy of infection and treatment method (ITM) using the Muguga cocktail vaccine on pastoralists' calves in Narok County, Kenya. The study was carried out in contrasting three sites. Two sites and one site in Osupuko sub-county and Loita sub-county, respectively. Four herds were purposively selected based on the accessibility and willingness of the farmers. One hundred and twenty-three (123) and one hundred and nineteen (119) calves were vaccinated and not vaccinated respectively. The ECF reactor rate was 0%. The antibodies to Theileria parva parva (T.parva parva) were 46.2% on day 0 and peaked up to 93.3% on day 35 following immunization with Muguga cocktail (p=0.000). In the control herd, the seroprevalence changed from 46.5% down to 41% (p=0.442). This change indicated that some of the calves had maternal antibodies and after 35 days, they could not be detected. The morbidity rate of clinical ECF was 15.1% in the control and 1.6% in the immunized (p=0.000). The cause-specific mortality rate of ECF was 87.5% in the control and none was observed in the immunized calves (p=0.000). The vaccine was able to protect calves against ECF, as supported by the ECF incidence and mortality rates in the vaccinated herds compared to the control. The Muguga cocktail vaccine is, therefore, safe and efficacious.