How to use this manual

This is one of four manuals on traditional animal health care practices (or "ethnoveterinary medicine") in tropical Asia. The manuals were compiled during a participatory workshop held at the International Institute of Rural Reconstruction in July 1994. The four manuals cover swine, poultry, ruminants (cattle, buffaloes, sheep and goats) and general information. For details, see the General information manual.

The topics in this manual have been broadly presented to include the whole spectrum of "conditions" which a field practitioner may encounter in the care and management of livestock.

Topics which describe a disease or condition present the following information:

Symptoms key symptom(s) by which the disease can be identified.

Causes primary cause(s) of the disease.

Prevention appropriate preventive measure(s) to avoid disease onset.

Treatment a detailed description of the treatment(s).

The treatments list the ingredients by their botanical (or Latin) name and a common English name. For some commonly known species (e.g., garlic, ginger, coconut, banana. guava), only the Enalish name may appear in the text. The General information manual contains a complete list of plants named in the four manuals.

The treatments or remedies which require multiple ingredients are presented in a step-by-step "recipe" format which lists all ingredients to be used and describes how to prepare them. See the General information manual for details on how to prepare remedies such as fomentations, poultices and decoctions. Many remedies which require only a single ingredient are presented in tables. Each remedy is identified by the "." mark; where several remedies are presented, the choice of the remedy is left to the user.

After each treatment, the countries in tropical Asia where the treatment is practiced (as validated by the workshop group or through references) are presented in boldface parentheses. Immediately after the names of the countries is a series of numbers that reflect the validation criteria used in the workshop:

1. Workshop participants agreed that the treatment would be useful.

2. Treatment is widely used in a region or a country (some remedies were also validated against practices from outside Asia).

3. Workshop participants had first-hand knowledge of the remedy's use on-farm.

4. Traditional healers are known to use the remedy.

5. The remedy is cited in the literature in one of two ways: (1) it is used to treat the same problem in humans or another animal species; or (2) this plant has proven pharmacological activity to treat the problem in question. For instance, laboratory tests have shown that Nicotiana tabacum (tobacco) leaf extract is effective against Staphylococcus aureus bacteria in vitro (Syat 1990). This tends to support the use of tobacco leaves in treating wounds.

6. The remedy has been scientifically validated as effective to treat the problem in the livestock species in question. Relevant references are given under the corresponding plant name in the Glossary of medicinal plants in the General information manual.

Dosages and preparation methods in indigenous practice are often imprecise and vary widely between individuals and regions. The dosages and methods given are those that, according to the professional judgement and experience of the workshop participants, are most suitable, are easy to prepare and are likely to be effective. The workshop participants and IIRR have made every attempt to ensure that the remedies are effective and are not harmful. However, they cannot guarantee this or be held liable for problems arising from these practices.

Unless noted to the contrary, all dosage quantities for treatments are for single dosage applications; in other words, each treatment should be prepared at the time of application according to the quantities specified. Dosages for treatments in swine are usually given in terms of live body weight (a simple calculation procedure for estimating live body weight for all species is explained in the Estimating live weight of animals section).

Where possible, simple measurements (handful, cup, etc.) have been given for ease of use by field practitioners. The General information manual contains a guide to commonly used weights and measures. More detailed measure meets (milliliters, etc.) are also given to allow a practitioner to be as precise as the particular conditions may allow.

All references used in this manual are listed in the References section in the General information manual.