Effect of COVID-19 and related interventions on access to veterinary antimicrobials and clinical services for management of common poultry diseases by poultry farmers in Hoima District, Western Uganda

Abstract

Background The poultry industry is an important contributor to daily human protein requirements as meat and eggs consumed. Among the major animal source foods in Hoima district, those from poultry rank highest. Unfortunately, poultry farmers are reported to irrationally use veterinary antimicrobials in disease management and prevention, exacerbating antimicrobial resistance. This could be attributed to inadequate access to veterinary antimicrobials and clinical services. COVID-19 pandemic and related interventions further strained the already impaired of access to veterinary antimicrobials and clinical services. Objectives This study aimed at assessing the effect of COVID-19 pandemic and related interventions on access to veterinary antimicrobials and clinical services for management of common poultry diseases by poultry farmers in Hoima district, western Uganda. Methods A cross-sectional study with both qualitative and quantitative approaches was employed. Semi-structured questionnaires were administered to 365 poultry farmers, 9 animal health practitioners and 9 veterinary medicine outlets. Three focus group discussions in 3 sub-counties as well as in-depths interviews with animal health practitioners were conducted. Data was entered in Epi-data version 4.6 and analyzed with Microsoft excel 2019 and SPSS version 26. Results The common diseases reported in poultry farms were Newcastle disease (46.6%, 56.6%), Coccidiosis (37.0%, 22.2%) and Collibacillosis (11.0%, 22.2%) by farmers and animal health practitioners respectively. Before the pandemic, there was inadequate access to veterinary antimicrobials resulting from unequal distribution of veterinary medicine outlets in the district (40% are located in the town center). Veterinary antimicrobials were also unaffordable to most poultry farmers (47.6% of the average monthly farm expenditure). There was inadequate access to veterinary clinical services due to a low ratio of animal health practitioners to poultry farmers and a larger number of animal health practitioners were not qualified to provide the necessary clinical services (66.7%). COVID-19 pandemic and its related interventions led to increase in drug prices, reduced operating hours for medicine outlets, inaccessibility of animal health practitioners and veterinary medicine outlets further worsening the situation.

Conclusions Newcastle, Coccidiosis and Collibacillosis were the common diseases reported on poultry farms. Access to veterinary antimicrobials and clinical services was affected by COVID-19 pandemic and its related interventions. There should be a robust veterinary supply chain system to ensure that farmers are able to access veterinary antimicrobials and clinical services even in times of crisis.