A Pilot Study to Test Cocoa Pod Husk Ash Solution on Mite in Animal Mange at Asamankese

Abstract

Background Mange is a contagious skin disease characterized by crusty, scaly skin, pruritus, skin wrinkling, wounds, necrosis, and alopecia. Mange mites are frequently seen, especially in rural areas and among the poor and marginalized people, where livestock makes up the majority of their sources of revenue and their primary source of food. An increase in the spread of mange in animals (e.g., goats) in Ghana coupled with the high cost of treatment with antiparasitic drugs has necessitated the need to search for a new and cheaper option. Objectives In this study, the feasibility of a cocoa pod husk (CPH) ash solution for the treatment of mange disease in goats was tested. Method This study was a cluster randomized controlled trial among 60 goats infested with mange in households in Quarshie, a rural community in the Asamankese district in the Eastern region of Ghana. A cocoa pod husk (CPH) ash solution was made by measuring 40g of cocoa pod husk ash powder and 60ml of distilled water (water for injection). A laboratory analysis of CPH ash solution for efficacy and safety was carried out at Animal Experimentation at the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research. The mange-infested goats were randomized into the treatment and control arms (1:1). Each goat in the treatment arm was treated with 5ml of CHP ash solution following the US Food and Drug Administration-Parasitological Analysis Protocol (FDA-PAP). The number of mites on goat skin was described using a histogram. The Wilcoxon rank sum test was used to compare the median number of mites found on goat skin in the treatment and control goats. The Kruskal-Wallis test was used to compare the difference in the median number of mites on the goat skin at baseline between the treatment and control arms. The quantile regression model was used to identify the factors associated with the number of mites on goat skin across the treatment and control arms. Results Predictors of mite infestation at baseline included wrinkle skin on the goat at the time of purchase and a lack of knowledge that mange is a disease among goat owners. Mite infestations in control goats ranged from moderate (11 - 19 mites per infested area) to severe (20+ mites per infested area); whereas in the treatment, goat mite infestation was severe. Fourteen days after treatment (that is, at the endline), 21 of the control goats had a severe mite infestation, and 9 had a moderate mite infestation. But in treatments, 29 of the 30 had mild mite infestations, and 1 had a severe mite infestation. Overall intervention compliance was high among control and treatment households. Conclusion The findings also revealed that CPH ash solution had a positive efficacy on the mites treated and can be used by farmers as an alternative to orthodox drugs at a lower cost to treat mange mite infestations and increase goat reproduction and household wealth in the community.