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A Preliminary Glossary of Ethnoveterinary Knowledge and Practices in Mbeere
DRAFT
Martin Walsh
Circulated at a meeting on
The Use of “Existing Local Knowledge”
, Rural Agriculture andPastoralism Programme, Intermediate Technology Development Group, Methodist GuestHouse, Nairobi, 16 March 1993
Glossary of Livestock Diseases and their TreatmentRuminants
:
gĩcoma
, 7/-, "watery nasal discharge" [cattle, goats and sheep (and chickens)].This term describes a very watery nasal discharge. As well as describing a similar, andmore serious, condition in chickens, it can also be used to refer to a running nose inhumans.(
 ĩvũngũ
),
mavũngũ
,
 
(5)/6, "hoof disease" (foot rot), [cattle, goats and sheep]The primary meaning of 
 ĩvũngũ
is "hoof". In the plural it is also used as an alternative to
kuuvũ
, referring
 
to a disease of the hooves (
mũrimũ wa mavũngũ
), most probably footrot. Affected animals have sores between their hooves and are unable to walk.
 ĩvũri
, (
mavũri
), 5/(6), "lung disease" (pneumonia, CCPP), [goats].The primary meaning of 
 ĩvũri
is "lung", both human and animal. In the singular (but notthe plural) it is also used to refer to lung disease in goats (but not humans and other livestock, especially when post mortem examination reveals sores on the lungs of affectedanimals. In EMI ASAL Programme (ed, 1990: 10) this condition is identified as pneumonia, presumably mostly CCPP, Contagious Caprine Pleuropneumonia.
 ĩvũva
,
mavũva
, 5/6, "boil, water or pus-filled swelling", [cattle, goats and sheep].Such boils or abscesses can develop anywhere on the body of the animal, including thelegs. They are said to be mature when the surrounding hair falls off and they can be seeneasily. Then they can be split with a knife, after which the problem disappears.Traditional belief holds that these boils form when animals are struck by
ntongu
fruits, asthey might be by herdboys (or girls) when throwing them to keep the animals fromstraying.
ntongu
(9/10) is the sodom apple, the fruit of 
Solanum incanum
: these are verymuch liked by goats, though they are also very bitter. This belief is not universally held,however, and is asserted to be false by some informants. The name
 ĩv
ũ
va
can alsodescribe boils on humans, although
nyimba
(9/10) is the more usual term for the latter.
kamocu
, 12/-, "severe worm infestation" (helminthiasis), [goats and sheep].This is a condition in which an animal becomes very weak and bony even though it is fedwell. It is caused by infestations of worms which are found in the intestines and rumen of 1
 
dead animals. As well as leading to death, such infestations may also cause pregnantshoats to miscarry. There is no local treatment for this disease (or at least for this stage of the disease) and it used to be taken as a fatal condition. Now sick animals can be treatedwith modern deworming drugs, although it is very expensive for people with large herdsof (say 50) goats to do so at the price of Kshs. 10 per mature goat every 4 months.
kanyũkũ
, 12/-, "severe diarrhoea" (helminthiasis), [goats and sheep].This condition is distinguished from
rũvaro
(11/-), which describes mild diarrhoea,though both can be treated in the same way. According to an informant from Ishiara the best treatment for severe diarrhoea in goats and sheep uses the green leaves of the (small)tree called
kagumĩ 
(12/13),
Ormocarpum kirkii.
The leaves are ground to a mush to whichcold water is added and then stirred. After the mixture has been allowed to settle down thelarger pieces of leaf are removed. The resulting greenish liquid is then fed to the sick animal. Older people are reported to claim that this has never failed to cure diarrhoea insheep and goats.An informant from Kigwambiti (Thambu Sub-location) reported that he mixed sugar andwater and gave it to a sick goat in a cup. This was his own idea and probably derived fromsome knowledge of rehydration treatment for human diarrhoea. The treatment wasreputedly successful.
kĩrovoto
,
irovoto
, 7/8, fleas, [goats and sheep (and other domestic animals)].The following treatment for goats and sheep with fleas is reported from Ishiara. The greenleaves of the tree
mũkaũ
(3/4),
Melia volkensii
, are picked and ground into a thick solidwhich is then mixed with water and smeared on the body of the affected animal. Thistreatment is said to be very effective.
kĩthũri
, 7/-, "coughing" (pneumonia, CBPP, CCPP), [cattle, goats and sheep (andchickens)].This is a complaint of goats, sheep and, less commonly, cattle; while the same term is alsoused to describe coughing in humans. According to information from Ishiara coughing inlivestock can be treated using the hard and rough bark of 
 ĩthũri
(5/6),
 Euphorbia
spp.(especially
 E.candelabrum
?), also used in the preparation of an arrow poison,
 ĩvai
(5/6).The bark is collected from a dry tree and then burnt to charcoal. This charcoal is groundto a fine powder and mixed with an egg (both the yolk and albumen) to produce the fluidmedicine. This is put in a bottle and fed to the ailing livestock. The maximum dose for alarge animal is a soda bottle full (300 ml), less for smaller animals according to their size.The same dose is given every morning and evening. A week of this treatment is usuallyenough to cure the coughing. Sometimes the leaf of 
 ĩkovi
(5/6), a cactus with white spines(unidentified sp.) is added to make the medicine stronger. Alternatively,
 ĩkovi
leaf can beused as the sole plant ingredient. It is prepared as follows. First the leaf is picked from the plant, then roasted and allowed to cool a little before the water is squeezed out of it byhand or other means. This liquid is then put into a bowl or other container which alreadycontains a little water. The yolk and albumen of an egg is then added to this mixture andstirred in until it dissolves completely. The resulting medicine is fed to the sick animal(s)as already described above. The treatment is the same for cattle as for goats and sheep,though it is more often needed for the latter. 1-2
makovi
leaves are usually sufficient to prepare a dose for up to 5 goats.2
 
According to informants in Kamũgũ, this condition can be treated with the leaves of 
kĩva
(7/8) (possibly
Combretum paniculatum
,
kĩha
in Kikuyu). The leaves are pounded untilmushy and then mixed with water. This mixture is given as it is to the affected animal.Alternatively the bark of the same tree (
kĩva
) is boiled in water and the resulting decoctiongiven to the animal once it has cooled down.A young woman in Kiambiti (Thambu Sub-location) reported using the followingtreatment to treat a sick goat. She cut the bark of 
mũgumĩ 
,
Ormocarpum kirkii
, boiled thiswith water in a pan, allowed the liquid to cool, put it in a bottle and gave it to the goat. Shesaid that she had been told of this treatment by another farmer and that it was successful.Otherwise an informant from Kiritiri reports that coughing can also be treated by givingthe affected animal
 ĩgata
(5/6), soda ash.
kuuvũ
, 9/10, foot rot, [cattle, goats and sheep].This is said to affect cattle in both the dry and wet seasons, whereas it usually only affectssheep and goats in the wet season. Cattle with this condition cannot move (and thereforegraze) and may die unless treated. In the Ishiara area they may be treated by smearingtheir hooves with
ũkĩ 
(14/6), honey. This treatment is reported to be effective in healingfoot rot in cattle. Goats and sheep are most likely to catch foot rot when they are kept in anunroofed boma during the rains. In this case treatment of the animals is not necessary andthey will recover by simply being moved out of the boma.Another treatment for 
kuuvũ
in cattle, described in Kamũgũ, is to spread ash on theground at the entrance to the cattle shed or boma so that the affected animals tread in itwhen they come in and out. The ash gets into the hooves and heals the sores which haveformed in between them. Healing is said to be complete within two or three days of thistreatment beginning.
kũrarama
, 15/-, "bellowing", [cattle]."Bellowing" affects cattle, especially bulls. When a cow or bull bellows a lot it is said tohave an excess of blood,
ntakame
(9/-) or 
ndamu
(9/-). This is reported to have beenvery common in the past, but rare now (at least in the Ishiara area) because of thecomparative lack of good fodder. The standard treatment for this condition is to draw blood from a vein in the neck of the affected animal. This is done by shooting a specialkind of arrow,
ndĩya
(9/10), into the vein, using a small bow (
ũta wa ndĩya
, 14/6).According to Kiritiri informants the animal is first bathed in hot water mixed with ash.The amount of blood let in this way depends on the size of the animal: it may even fill asmall pan. To draw blood in this way is called
gũtava ntakame
, and the resulting bloodis known as
ntakame ya gũtavwa
(9/-). It can be mixed with bulrush millet flour to makea kind of porridge. In the past blood was also drawn in this way from very healthyanimals, specifically for consumption. Again, however, it is said that there is nowinsufficient fodder and the cattle are too thin to make this a viable proposition (if bled theywould die), though the practice is thought to continue in other parts of central Kenyawhere these constraints do not apply.
kũremerwo nĩ thigiri
, 15/-, "retained afterbirth", [cattle, goats and sheep].According to an Ishiara source the following treatment is prescribed "for releasing theretained placenta in the womb after the birth of animals", a problem which may otherwiseresult in death. A dry maize cob from which the grains have been removed,
mũcakwe
(3/4), is taken and burnt to a very black charcoal. This charcoal is then ground into a very3
of 00

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