Animal Morbidity
Indicator Phrasing
English: average % of target households’ [specify the animal] which suffered from [specify the disease] during the past [specify the number] months
French: % moyen de [indiquer l'animal] des ménages cibles qui ont souffert de [précisez la maladie] au cours des [précisez le nombre] derniers mois
Spanish: % medio de [especifique el animal] de los hogares objetivo que han padecido [especifique la enfermedad] durante los últimos [especifique el número] meses
Portuguese: % média de [especifique o animal] dos agregados familiares-alvo que sofreram de [especifique a doença] durante os [especifique o número] meses anteriores
Czech: průměrné % [určete druh zvířete] chovaných cílovými domácnostmi postižených [určete nemoc] během posledních [určete počet] měsíců
What is its purpose?
The indicator measures the prevalence of a specific disease amongst certain animals, for example, foot-and-mouth disease among cows. It is an indicator of animal care and the presence of health and life-threatening disease.
How to Collect and Analyse the Required Data
Collect the following data by conducting individual interviews with a representative sample of those household members primarily responsible for raising the given animals:
RECOMMENDED SURVEY QUESTIONS (Q) AND POSSIBLE ANSWERS (A)
Q1: How many [specify the animal – e.g. chickens] have you raised from [specify the time period]?
A1: …...
Q2: Out of these animals, how many have during this time had [specify the local, commonly used name of the disease]?
A2: …...
Do your best to secure photos of the disease’s main symptoms, which the data collectors can show to the respondents to ensure that they understand what disease the data collectors are asking about.
To determine the indicator’s value, sum up the numbers of all animals affected by the disease (reported by all the respondents) and divide it by the total number of animals raised by all the respondents (including those which were affected). Multiply it by 100 to convert it to a percentage. For example: in total, 150 cows were affected by foot-and-mouth disease divided by 1,000 cows and multiplied by 100 = 15% morbidity rate.
Important Comments
1) Since morbidity levels often differ depending on the animal's age, consider asking separately about young animals (e.g. chicks) and adult animals (e.g. chicken).
2) Animal morbidity is prone to significant seasonal differences. Do your best to collect baseline and endline data for the same recall period, in the same period of a year; otherwise, it is very likely that they will not be comparable.
3) In situations where animal morbidity is expected to rapidly increase over a short period of time (e.g. due to an outbreak of diseases), you should use a shorter recall period that captures the actual morbidity at the given time.