The Economic and Social Impact of Disease Caused by Theileria parva

Chaters, Gemma and Railey, Ashley Flynn and Rushton, Jonathan (2026) The Economic and Social Impact of Disease Caused by Theileria parva. In: East Coast Fever : The Disease, its Impact and Control. CABI Publishing, pp. 25-55. ISBN 9781800626300

Abstract

Theileria parva infection causes significant socio-economic and nutritional losses for cattle keepers and rural households across much of eastern and southern Africa. This chapter uses a transparent process to estimate the direct mortality and health expenditure costs incurred due to T. parva. The estimated cost of these direct losses is between US$300 million and $1.8 billion annually for the year 2020. This estimate does not include indirect or invisible losses such as milk, meat, draught and reproductive losses or forgone revenue due to an inability to keep non-indigenous cattle breeds in the affected region. The broad range of the estimate reflects the paucity of reliable population, production and expenditure data related to T. parva. Nevertheless, the analysis in this chapter confirms that T. parva imposes a profound burden on poor livestock owners and provides policy makers and funders with the confidence to invest and allocate resources to improve the control of the parasite.