Ethnoveterinary medical practice for ruminants in the subhumid zone of northern Nigeria.

Ethnoveterinary medical practice is widespread among herdsmen and village livestock producers in northern Nigeria where livestock in the country are concentrated. For most of these livestock owners, modern veterinary inputs and services are not readily available and are relatively expensive. Traditional remedies are locally available and cheaper. Our questioning of 50 herdsmen and village livestock producers revealed that the ingredients used in these indigenous practices include plant extracts, seeds, leaves, barks of trees, tubers and roots of various plants. These are processed in various ways and administered to animals for a variety of disease conditions. More recently used ingredients include kerosene and spent engine oil. Considering the combination of ingredients used by the traditional animal-health practitioners, it is likely that additive, synergistic and nutritional effects might be involved in alleviating the problem of ill-health in animals. Herdsmen and livestock owners readily identify signs of disease (although some common infectious diseases have several signs and may affect various parts of the animal body). Aspects of indigenous health care practices are contrasted with modern veterinary health care.