Abstract

GALVEZ, Aída Cecilia; DUQUE, José Fernando  and  VELASQUEZ, Luz Elena. The disease is another: therapeutic itinerary of bovine fascioliosis in Rionegro (Antioquia). Ces. Med. Vet. Zootec. [online]. 2012, vol.7, n.1, pp.74-87. ISSN 1900-9607.

This article presents results of an anthropological research project that was carried out in the municipality of Rionegro in the department of Antioquia, Colombia. The disease caused by hepatic fasciola, a parasite native to Europe, and is now present on every continent and is considered to be the pathogenic disease with the greatest latitudinal, longitudinal, and altitudinal distribution. There are no specific observable symptoms in infected animals that allow a diagnosis, which must be done in veterinary laboratories, which is scarcely ever the case given that the disease rarely causes death. Through the use of ethnographic methods the researchers accessed various interlocutors linked to the pecuary field, which relayed their interpretations about bovine fasciolosis and about the common practices dealing with it ranging from lay knowledge to dialogues with expert and professional understanding. The text illustrates the therapeutic itinerary that is undertaken when certain changes in behavior and appearance are perceived, it describes the course of action that is followed in order to restore the animals' health, and it considers the decisions that livestock farmers take when cures fail, all of which are the result of the fact that it is not mandatory to declare bovine fasciolosis. Academics in the field of national veterinary medicine who research the basic aspects related to the parasite's life cycle are not familiar with the lay knowledge produced about this disease. An analysis of this knoweldge could contribute to the design of control strategies given that it presents in detail the doubts and uncertainties that have historically surrounded fasciolosis. The tendency to conceive it as a "new" disease, and the scarce attention that it has received in comparison with other livestock diseases that are well-defined in sanitation plans work against the control and prevention of fasciolosis in social practices of bovine livestock management in the area under study.

Keywords : Ethnography; fasciolosis; livestock; therapeutic itinerary.

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