ILRI MSc Graduate Fellowship: Cross-sectional Study of Haemoparasites in Dairy Calves in Nandi County at International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI)

About the position

• The dairy industry is an emerging sector of the livestock industry in many lower and middle-income countries (LMICs) particularly in Africa. Structured dairy cattle breeding programs, such as the African Dairy Genetic Gains (ADGG) project, are currently being implemented for improved performance and production. The ADGG program aims to assist farmers to improve cow management, improve animal and herd productivity as well as increasing income for smallholder dairy farmers.
• The African Dairy Genetic Gains (ADGG) project reports ~40% calf mortality in its dairy cross-bred populations. In a previous longitudinal non-dairy calf cohort in Western Kenya known as the Infectious Diseases of East African Livestock (IDEAL) study, we observed a 16% overall calf mortality in the first year of life and a 13% mortality due to infectious diseases driven mainly by tick borne haemaparasites and gut nematodes/endoparasites.  This is the proposed focus of this study.
• There are a number of haemoparasitic infections that are hugely impactful for calf mortality and morbidity in Kenya in the non-dairy sector but the picture is currently unclear in the ADGG herds. These include T. parva (East Coast Fever), Babesia spp., Anaplasma spp., Erlichia spp. and Trypanosoma spp., In order to address this major challenge for dairy producers and to reduce both the direct losses from mortality and retarded growth as well as the indirect loss of genetic potential, the research proposes to conduct a longitudinal study of mortality and morbidity in calves. This will generate the disease and infection phenotypes that can then be linked to the ADGG genotypes to deliver genomic tools to develop resistance/tolerance to tropical diseases.
• The successful MSc fellow will conduct the baseline cross-sectional study to the determine the prevalence of haemoparasites in dairy calves in Nandi County, Kenya.

Responsibilities of the fellow:

• Recruitment of dairy farmers to participate in the baseline cross-sectional study.
• Collect survey data using ODK.
• Collect samples from calves.
• Run serological and molecular tests for haemoparasites.
• Conduct statistical analysis of data using appropriate methods.
• Preparation of research proposal and thesis for purposes of academic attainment.

Minimum requirements

The ideal candidate should:

• Hold a Bachelor of Science preferably in veterinary science, biomedical or laboratory science.
• Be enrolled in Master of Science program with a speciality in parasitology, pathology or laboratory methods in a recognized university.
• Possess field experience collecting samples from animals, collecting survey data, working in multidisciplinary teams
• Have working experience using ODK.
• Demonstrated laboratory experience in use of microscopy, PCR, undertaking serology analysis such as ELISA