Statistical analysis of animal diseases’ incidences in tanzania: the case of Mainland Tanzania

The context of disease specific zones has not yet been given a priority in studying the incidences of animal diseases in Tanzania. This research presents findings on the study that aimed to create specific zones for the thirteen East African’s priority animal diseases that seemed to be reported from various areas of twenty administrative regions in Tanzania. The study used secondary data accessible from the National Database for Trans-boundary Animal Diseases in the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries Development. This study involved two sets of variables. The first set included 13 animal diseases and the second included 20 former regions in Mainland Tanzania as per the period between 2001 and 2010. A frequency distribution of each priority animal disease in Tanzania for the period between 2001 and 2010 was constructed. The findings revealed that there a significant difference between frequencies of the most affected regions from one disease to another. Cluster analysis was applied whereby the disease specific zones for each priority animal disease were formulated. The study found that regions with high frequencies of animal diseases’ incidences appeared on right-ward of the dendrogram forming the high-risk zone. Hence, the study was able to identify a high-risk zone for each of the thirteen priority animal diseases. Considering the African Swine Fever disease as an example, the high-risk zone consists of Mwanza, Mbeya, DSM, Kigoma and Arusha regions. Individually, each of the five regions in the high-risk zone accounted for at least 10 percent of the total disease’s incidences. Based on the results, the study recommends that the Government of Tanzania (as a champion) and other stakeholders to consider disease specific zones in policy formulation and resource allocation for disease control and other animal health interventions so as to improve veterinary services in different areas in the country