Lancet Kenya has introduced the technology in Kenya, which they say takes roughly 21 minutes and can be run in the main laboratory, veterinary clinic or busy dairy farms as a point-of-care test.
Consultant pathologist and chief executive of Lancet Kenya Ahmed Kalebi said the new technology would allow farmers to decide in good time whether to re-inseminate non-pregnant (open) cows, or check for possible health problems preventing pregnancy.
Veterinarians can access the test by submitting samples to Lancet or ordering the test kit to run the test in-house within their clinics or on-site testing at the farms once trained on using the kit, he said.
Rectal examination has for ages been the cheapest and most popular method for checking pregnancy in cattle in Kenya and across the world.
The method, commonly known as rectal palpation, involves a trained and highly skilled veterinarian manually inserting hand and forearm into the rectum to feel the womb for growth.
This technique is, however, only effective 40-45 days after breeding — meaning that farmers have to wait for about seven weeks to ascertain conception.
A new and more effective method of testing pregnancy, Rapid Visual Pregnancy Test (RVPT), nonetheless addresses such lengthy and anxious waits.
Lancet Kenya has introduced the technology in Kenya, which they say takes roughly 21 minutes and can be run in the main laboratory, veterinary clinic or busy dairy farms as a point-of-care test.
The test kit is manufactured by US-based IDEXX laboratories, which unveiled it in the American market in June.
It determines the pregnancy status from a small amount of blood obtained from the tail of the animal, making detection easier and faster for livestock farmers and veterinary professionals.
Several animal producers in Kenya have adopted the technology on an experimental basis.
Ibrahim Kemboi, veterinarian-in-charge of the expansive Chemusian Farm in Nakuru, said they have partly adopted the RVPT to detect pregnancy in cows and plan for efficient milk production.
“We’ve been using RVPT for a month now. With this technology we are able to breed our cows with confidence and ensure that our calving interval is within the range of 360-390 days,” he said in an interview. “This is after insemination using only a simple blood testing technology thereby boosting the reproductive efficiency and health of livestock and maximising profits.”
Dr Kemboi, who manages about 800 dairy cows, said they encountered challenges in the past with the manual pregnancy tests in cows, risking embryonic death due to early and inappropriate manipulation of amniotic vesicle and inability to timely identify ‘open’ cows (non-pregnant cows).
In early palpation, the vet said, the amniotic vesicle may damage and cause embryonic mortality.
“Rectal palpation to check for pregnancy before the 45 days post breeding is discouraged,” Dr Kemboi said.
The RVPT has specifity of above 95 per cent and sensitivity of above 98 per cent, said Lancet Kenya veterinary pathologist and head of veterinary services Dhaval Shah.
Specifity refers to the ability to detect non-pregnant cows while sensitivity is the detection the presence of pregnancy associated glycoproteins which indicates a pregnancy in cattle.
“Once non-pregnant cows are identified, they are treated and re-inseminated within the shortest time, eventually reducing the calving interval and increases the efficiency of our milk production,” said Dr Shah.
“The advanced RVPT empowers livestock farmers, including dairy and beef producers, to establish whether the animals have successfully conceived or not just 28 days after insemination.”
Dr Kemboi said high reproductive efficiency is a necessity for high lifetime production in dairy cows.
“The essence of any pregnancy diagnosis in dairy cows is to identity the non-pregnant cows. The earlier this is done the better,” he said.
“This is because it gives the farmer an opportunity to make informed decisions of whether to re-inseminate or cull it.”
Failure to detect non-pregnant cows early results in long calving interval, exposing farmers to losses. The recommended calving length is 360 to 390 days.
Long calving interval is a loss to the farmer because one continues to feed a cow that is not producing milk, said Dr Kemboi.
It costs a farmer between Sh300 and Sh500 a day for every extra day a cow is not pregnant beyond the voluntary waiting period depending on production system, he said.
“Dairy cows peak milk production between 45 to 120 days post calving. This is the most efficient period of milk production. A long calving interval means a farmer needs a larger herd which is not efficiently producing milk or replacement stock to maintain his herd numbers,” said Dr Kemboi. “Our current calving interval is 395 days with an average of 40 calves born per month.”
Kenya Veterinary Association Secretary Kenneth Wameyo says early pregnancy diagnosis will boost productivity because farmers will now have their cows calve at intervals of between 380-420 days instead of the current average of about 560 days or even more due to failed pregnancy on herds.
Dr Wameyo said early and accurate diagnosis of pregnancy is ideal for early identification of fertility problems and to achieve planned seasons of calving and prescribed calving intervals. This is because the new method learns the status of herds at early stages.
He said the launch of RVPT is timely given other pregnancy testing methods such as use of ultrasound — involves inserting a part of the device into the rectum of livestock to take images of the foetus and uterus — are quite costly.
“This requires fairly expensive equipment and skilled personnel and if the procedure is not done carefully, it can damage sensitive tissue in the animal,” said Dr Wameyo.
“This new laboratory test has been shown to be more accurate unlike the manual methods that are estimated to misdiagnose almost half of pregnancies, especially in inexperienced hands.
“Other older methods for pregnancy detection are observation of non-return to heat and observation of physical changes on the animal but one has to wait longer to know.”
It currently costs Sh1,000 per RVPT cow pregnancy test at the Lancet Kenya Laboratories.
Dr Kemboi said they send samples to Lancet laboratories for analysis but with time the tests would be carried out at the farm. At the time of this interview, Chemusian Farm was submitting a second sample for testing.
“He (Dr Kemboi) was impressed with the first set of results we got. And I can only presume that he was impressed at the reliability,” said Dr Shah.
Lancet Kenya has piloted the first phase which included explaining the benefits of the test to farm managers on a one-on-one basis. Demonstrating the testing of samples were done at site.
“We then encourage sample submissions for them to really feel the benefit of early diagnosis,” said Dr Shah.
Consultant pathologist and chief executive of Lancet Kenya Ahmed Kalebi said the new technology would allow farmers to decide in good time whether to re-inseminate non-pregnant (open) cows, or check for possible health problems preventing pregnancy.
“Or sell them to save costs of maintaining the unproductive animals,” said Dr Kalebi.
“The technology is available across the country and the wider East African region through Lancet’s branch network of more than 40 laboratories and service points.”
Veterinarians can access the test by submitting samples to Lancet or ordering the test kit to run the test in-house within their clinics or on-site testing at the farms once trained on using the kit, he said.
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Main methods of checking pregnancy
Conventional method
Under this, a highly-skilled veterinarian uses hand and forearm through the rectum of the animal to feel the womb (rectal palpation).
Rectal palpation can, however, only be detected 40 to 45 days after insemination, meaning that failed conception cannot be established until after six to seven weeks of runnung the procedure.
The method is useful after the third and 10th week of pregnancy, thus cannot be fully done away with.
“Of course we are not doing away with rectal palpation,” said Chemusian Farm veterinarian-in-charge Ibrahim Kemboi.
“We still have to check for pregnancy by the third month and at drying off via rectal palpation… In essence what RVPTest offers us is ability to identity within the shortest time (28-30 days after insemination) cows that are not pregnant and safely identify pregnant cows without the risk of miscarriages.”
This method has a high risk of manipulation of uterus and ovaries, said Dr Kemboi.
Observation
This is the observation of non-return to heat and looking out for physical changes on the animal. Farmers longer for results.
Ultrasound
A part of the device is inserted into the rectum to take images of the foetus and uterus. It requires fairly expensive equipment and skilled personnel and if the procedure is not done carefully, it can damage sensitive tissues.
Advanced Rapid Visual Pregnancy Test The RVPT is a current technology, which experts say is more accurate.
It detects pregnancy-associated glycoproteins (PAGs) like HCG in human pregnancy test with 98 per cent accuracy.
It is a further innovation in that it can even be done in a side lab or in the farm.
“It was built on previous test introduced in 2013 by IDEXX which was lab-based on ELISA equipment,” said consultant pathologist and chief executive of Lancet Group of Labs Ahmed Kalebi.
“Previous lab testing for pregnancy in cows relied on testing levels of progesterone and estrogen hormones, but these levels were not specific to pregnancy and, thus, unreliable, therefore not favoured by the livestock industry.”
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