Cattle vaccination against malignant catarrhal fever: balancing pastoral livelihoods, food security and ecosystem integrity in the Serengeti, Tanzania

恶性卡他热（malignant Catarrhal Fever，MCF）是由牛疱疹病毒1型（alcelaphine herpesvirus-1）引起的牛的一种致死性疾病。该疾病对东非牧民的生计和粮食安全造成了沉重负担，是导致野生动物保护区边界土地使用冲突的一个重要因素。我们最近的研究已经证明了牛MCF减毒疫苗的安全性和有效性，这对贫困畜牧业家庭的生计和营养状况以及牲畜-野生动物混合土地使用系统的可持续性具有许多潜在的好处。然而，广泛的牛疫苗接种也可能产生一些不利的环境和保护后果，可能需要管理或减轻。由于我们早期的研究，MCF牛疫苗很可能成为商业上可用的，这可能导致显着的牲畜生产力的提高和野生动物保护区周围的土地使用变化。有鉴于此，并为野生动物、牲畜和乡村当局提供准备和规划所需的数据，本研究旨在坦桑尼亚北方塞伦盖蒂生态系统开展一项观察性研究，以检查对MCF疫苗使用的偏好以及疫苗使用对MCF发病率、家庭成员牛奶供应、牛的移动和管理、牲畜-野生动物相互作用、植被生产力和人类与野生动物的冲突。这项研究将涉及住户调查、环境遥感数据分析、牲畜移动研究以及角马移动和行为模式分析。该项目团队由来自英国的兽医流行病学家、MCF疫苗专家、环境和生态科学家、环境经济学家和社会科学家组成，与坦桑尼亚的政府和非政府合作伙伴共同努力。

Malignant Catarrhal Fever (MCF) is a fatal disease of cattle, caused by alcelaphine herpesvirus-1 and transmitted from wildebeest, which are asymptomatic carriers. The disease poses a substantial burden on the livelihoods and food security of pastoralists in East Africa and is an important factor driving land-use conflict at the borders of wildlife-protected areas. Our recent research has demonstrated the safety and efficacy of an attenuated MCF vaccine for cattle, which has many potential benefits for livelihoods and nutritional status of poor livestock-keeping families and the sustainability of mixed livestock-wildlife land-use system. However, widespread cattle vaccination could also have some adverse environmental and conservation consequences which might need to be managed or mitigated. As a result of our earlier research, an MCF cattle vaccine is likely to become commercially available, which could lead to significant livestock productivity gains and land-use changes around wildlife-protected areas. In anticipation of this, and to generate data that will allow preparation and planning by wildlife, livestock and village authorities, this study aims to carry out an observational study in the Serengeti ecosystem of northern Tanzania to examine revealed preferences for MCF vaccine use and the consequences of vaccine use on MCF incidence, milk availability to family members, cattle movements and management, livestock-wildlife interactions, vegetation productivity and human-wildlife conflict. The study will involve household surveys, analysis of remote-sensing data on the environment, livestock movement studies and analysis of wildebeest movement and behaviour patterns. The project team comprises an interdisciplinary partnership involving veterinary epidemiologists, MCF vaccine specialists, environmental and ecological scientists, environmental economists and social scientists from the UK, working together with government and non-governmental partners in Tanzania.