Kukustar: New vaccine against newcastle to empower farmers

Dec 18, 2014

It was the welcoming smiles. Not the long distance from Mbale town. Not the shrubby path to Mary Goretti Mboizi’s humble home in Bunamwera village, Kibuku district that struck me as I settled down to listen to her story.

By Stephen Ssenkaaba

It was the welcoming smiles. Not the long distance from Mbale town. Not the shrubby path to Mary Goretti Mboizi’s humble home in Bunamwera village, Kibuku district that struck me as I settled down to listen to her story.

Mboizi has been a poultry farmer since 1994. Today, she would probably be a model farmer in Kibuku if it were not for a ‘strange’ disease that kept attacking her chickens.

“That disease first struck in 1996,” she tells of the disease that shrank her chicken and led to watery green droppings. It wiped out all the 25 birds on her farm. For the next six years, Mboizi, kept replenishing her farm but in vain.

It took her a while to understand that the ‘strange’ ailment was Newcastle disease.

Mboizi’s life would change one Sunday in 2012, when a senior veterinary doctor visited her local church to talk about a new vaccine for Newcastle disease.

“Dr. Vinand Nantulya told us that the vaccine called ‘Kukustar’ had been locally produced,” she recalls. Mboizi has since applied the vaccine and her farm has improved.

Understanding Kukustar vaccine

Kukustar is a new thermo-stable vaccine developed locally by Brentec Investments Limited, a business incubatee under the auspices of the Uganda Industrial Research Institute.

The vaccine, launched in 2011 by President Yoweri Museveni, has been on trial for the last five years and was approved by the National Drug Authority in 2010. After a successful pilot in seven districts in eastern Uganda, it is now ready for rolling out to the rest of the country.

Brentec Vaccines Limited is expected to market the vaccine by pushing it directly through consumer marketing, promotion and advice.

“Distributors and vaccinators will receive training and support through the marketing and promotion effort, and the tools to move products,” says Prof. Nantulya, the head of Brentec Investments Ltd.

To reach every possible corner of the country, the vaccine will be distributed to different shopping centres throughout the country at sh100 per dose. Since each vaccination round requires one dose, it will cost a farmer sh400 to vaccinate one bird every year.

Ultimately, this vaccine will provide protection against one of Uganda’s most deadly chicken killer diseases, which is believed to claim up to 60-90% of chickens in the country.


Brentec Vaccines Limited technicians in the Kyambogo-based laboratory where Kukustar is manufactured

Why all this matters

According to a 2009 Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) and Ministry of Agriculture Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) study, village poultry production is estimated to constitute over 80% of the total poultry population of 37.4 million in Uganda.

An earlier MAAIF report indicates that rural poultry production is an important agricultural activity of almost all rural communities in Uganda, providing scarce animal protein in the form of meat and eggs, as well as being a reliable source of petty cash.

“This means that chickens raised from rural areas are a major source of poultry for both economic and nutritional purposes,” says Halid

Kirunda, a livestock economist/epidemiologist.

The Food and Agricultural Organization indicates that rural poultry plays a critical role in the national economy of developing countries and its role in improving the nutritional status and income of many smallholder farmers has been very significant. This calls for improving free-range chicken in our rural homesteads.

“Improving the free-range chicken production systems in Uganda would result in improved food security, incomes and livelihoods in households, especially among the rural poor,” says Kirunda.

He notes that rural poultry production faces a number of constraints, particularly diseases like Newcastle, which is considered to be endemic in Uganda.

Advantages of Kukustar


Because it is thermo-stable, this vaccine lasts up to three days at room temperature. With an ideal storage temperature of 2-80C, it suits the conditions of Ugandan local farmers.

“This means it can be transported over long distances without refrigeration and still be effective,” explains says Brian Bigirwa, a technician at the Brentec vaccines headquarters in Kyambogo.

When kept in freeze-dried form, the vaccine can stay for up to seven days without losing its effectiveness.

The vaccine can be administered to different types of poultry of all age groups.

The economics of eliminating Newcastle

According to Kirunda, once Newcastle is eliminated, birds will be able to grow and become productive. This will boost household incomes.

If in good health and well-protected from predators, one local bird hatches10 chicks every cycle, adding up to 30 chicks at end of the year (a local hen hatches three times a year).

A farmer who will have started with five local hens, will, therefore, potentially have 155 chickens at the end of the year (assuming that each of the five mother hens produced 30 chickens by year’s end). Over the next six months, the chicks will have grown enough to lay eggs and have their own little ones, multiplying even more. After three years, it is possible for a single farmer to have 500 birds.

In terms of nutrition, there is improved diet for the family.

Economically too, such a farm can be a source of income when time comes to sell the birds. During festive seasons such as now, a farmer who sells 10 of his birds will earn sh200,000 (at sh20,000 per bird, which is the average price during the festive season).


 

National Drug Authority’s take

Dr. Gordon Sematiko, the National Drug Authority executive director, says Brentec Uganda Limited was audited by and cleared by NDA.

He says the facility meets NDA current good manufacturing practice standards. The vaccine also went through and passed the NDA verification rigours.

“The Kukustar vaccine went through the various processes, including meeting the criteria of introducing a new product on the market for local manufacturers under the inspectorate department. This criteria also involves the analysis of the pre-market batches. Following the above processes an application for registration was lodged and dully assessed the product is registered with no [0727/V13/14],” he explains.

Sematiko indicated that Kukustar vaccine will go a long way in alleviating problems of vaccine access by our farmers because it is thermo-stable and, therefore, easier to transport to the remotest part of the country.

“As NDA we encourage more such initiatives to strengthen not only the pharmaceutical industry but also veterinary industry. It provides employment to the youth, both directly at the factory but also in the countryside where they rear birds.”
 

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Newcastle fact sheet

Newcastle disease is a viral disease that spreads very quickly among chickens and other birds. Its incubation period is two to 15 days.

Other birds that may catch Newcastle disease include baby turkeys, pigeons, ducklings, baby ostriches and guinea fowls.

Sources of infection

Moving from farm to farm

Infected offals

Mixing infected birds with non-infected ones

Spreading infected offals, for instance, by dogs

Contaminated eggs

Symptoms of newcastle disease

Drooping wings

Greenish diarrhoea

Twisted neck

Massive death of chickens, usually within 24 hours of catching the disease

Features to look out for on the kukustar vial

Brentec Logo

Type (strain) of vaccine (1-2)

Dose and route of administration

Batch number

Date of manufacture and expiry

Diluting the freeze-dried vaccine

Before dilution, inspect the vial and make sure that it is sealed with an aluminum cap

Break the seal and add mineral or boiled and cooled water to the freeze-dried vaccine

Do not use treated tap water because the chemical (chlorine) will destroy the vaccine

Shake the vial gently in order to get uniform suspension of the vaccine

Transfer the diluted vaccine into the eye dropper provided and seal it. It is now ready for administration

Storage and transportation

The diluted vaccine can be stored at room temperature in a cool dark place (for instance next to a water pot

Always transport the vaccine in the field using a special basket provided by Brentec

Guarding against the disease

Clean up the birds’ house

Do not overcrowd the birds

Prevention


The only way to prevent Newcastle disease is by vaccinating the chickens

Wash hands after vaccinating birds in each homestead

Restock your flock from a place that has had vaccination

Source: Brentec Vaccines Limited

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