Healing the Herds: Disease, Livestock Economies, and the Globalization of Veterinary Medicine

Chapter 8 "They Give Me Fever"

Chapter 8 “They Give Me Fever” East Coast Fever and Other Environmental Impacts of the Maasai Moves Lotte฀Hughes IT฀IS฀widely฀acknowledged฀that฀the฀Maasai฀of฀British฀East฀Africa฀(BEA,฀ later฀renamed฀Kenya)฀were฀relieved฀of฀the฀best฀part฀of฀their฀territory฀in฀ the฀1900s฀and฀moved฀at฀gunpoint฀into฀reserves,฀in฀order฀to฀free฀up฀the฀ highlands฀for฀white฀settlement.1 ฀European฀financial interests,฀suggest฀G.฀H.฀ Mungeam,฀M.฀P.฀K.฀Sorrenson,฀Diana฀Wylie,฀and฀others,฀were฀the฀main฀ driver฀behind฀moves฀in฀the฀period฀1904–5฀and฀from฀1911฀to฀1913,฀involving฀ upward฀of฀twenty฀thousand฀people฀and฀at฀least฀2.5฀million฀livestock.2 ฀But฀ by฀the฀time฀of฀the฀second฀move,฀from฀Laikipia฀in฀the฀highlands฀to฀what฀is฀ now฀western฀Narok฀District,฀was฀there฀a฀related฀but฀less฀obvious฀motive,฀ linked฀to฀settler฀pressure฀on฀government฀to฀take฀action฀on฀East฀Coast฀fever฀ (ECF)฀and฀grant฀white฀farmers฀more฀land฀in฀ECF-free฀areas?฀My฀research฀ indicates฀that฀ECF฀was฀a฀key฀factor฀in฀the฀second฀move,฀which฀is฀barely฀ mentioned฀in฀the฀written฀literature฀but฀is฀foregrounded฀in฀Maasai฀oral฀ testimony.฀It฀was฀my฀elderly฀informants’฀insistence฀on฀linking฀ECF฀to฀the฀ moves฀and฀land฀losses,฀within฀minutes฀of฀beginning฀to฀talk฀about฀them,฀ that฀alerted฀me฀to฀this฀possibility.฀Oral฀claims,฀albeit฀problematic,฀can฀in฀ part฀be฀verified฀in฀veterinary฀and฀other฀archival฀sources. “They Give Me Fever”฀฀฀|฀147 ฀ The฀existing฀historical฀literature฀on฀the฀moves฀does฀not฀cover฀the฀disease ฀angle฀or฀the฀environmental฀impacts.฀Neither฀does฀it฀include฀Maasai฀ oral฀testimony฀on฀this฀or฀any฀other฀aspect฀of฀the฀moves฀and฀related฀events,฀ which฀is฀revelatory.฀Mungeam,฀Sorrenson,฀and฀T.฀H.฀R.฀Cashmore฀focus฀ largely฀on฀official policy฀toward฀the฀Maasai,฀settler฀influence฀upon฀it,฀the฀ differences฀and฀strained฀relations฀between฀the฀protectorate฀government฀ and฀the฀Colonial฀Office฀(CO),฀and฀what฀happened฀as฀a฀result.฀R.฀L.฀Tignor฀ covers฀these฀issues฀in฀less฀detail,฀mentioning฀in฀passing฀the฀incidence฀of฀ECF฀ in฀the฀Southern฀Maasai฀Reserve.3 ฀Wylie’s฀interest฀is฀in฀the฀renegade฀British ฀civil฀servants฀who฀challenged฀this฀policy฀and฀the฀wider฀human฀rights฀ networks฀to฀which฀they฀belonged.฀Richard฀Waller฀has฀produced฀rich฀histories ฀of฀the฀Maasai฀but฀has฀not฀researched฀the฀moves฀themselves.4 ฀Colonial฀ civil฀servant฀George฀Sandford,฀author฀of฀an฀official history฀of฀the฀Maasai฀ reserves,฀described฀the฀diseases฀that฀afflicted฀Maasai฀livestock฀before฀and฀ after฀the฀moves,฀but฀his฀account฀cannot฀be฀considered฀scholarly฀or฀independent ,฀even฀though฀it฀is฀a฀valuable฀source.฀Polemical฀books฀published฀ in฀the฀1920s฀by฀Dr.฀Norman฀Leys฀and฀his฀friend฀William฀McGregor฀Ross฀ (Wylie’s฀subjects)฀are฀also฀important฀contemporary฀sources,฀not฀scholarly฀ histories.5 ฀Therefore,฀my฀analysis฀fills฀a฀gap,฀while฀also฀complementing— and฀casting฀new฀light฀upon—existing฀material. ฀ Initially฀called฀African฀Coast฀fever,฀ECF฀was฀first฀diagnosed฀in฀the฀protectorate ฀in฀1904,฀in฀a฀herd฀of฀cattle฀brought฀from฀the฀Kilimanjaro฀area฀of฀ German฀East฀Africa฀to฀Nairobi.6 ฀A฀disease฀of฀cattle฀caused฀by฀the฀protozoan฀ parasite฀Theileria฀parva,฀carried฀by฀the฀brown฀ear฀tick,฀Rhipicephalus฀appendiculatus ,฀it฀hampered฀early฀European฀settlers’฀attempts฀to฀establish฀dairy฀ and฀beef฀ranches.7 ฀Lord฀Delamere,฀who฀settled฀in฀the฀protectorate฀in฀1903,฀ lost฀nearly฀all฀his฀young฀stock฀to฀it฀at฀Njoro฀in฀the฀Rift฀Valley.฀Settlers฀were฀ panicked฀by฀news฀of฀the฀devastation฀being฀caused฀by฀ECF฀in฀Rhodesia฀and฀ the฀Transvaal.8 ฀Winston฀Churchill฀was฀briefed฀about฀ECF฀when฀he฀visited฀ BEA฀in฀1907฀as฀a฀Colonial฀Office฀minister฀and฀suggested฀remedies—wire฀ fencing฀and฀quarantine—in฀his฀account฀of฀that฀journey.9 ฀By฀1909–10,฀ECF฀ was฀seriously฀worrying฀settlers,฀who฀lobbied฀the฀new฀governor,฀Percy฀Girouard .฀He฀wired฀the฀CO฀on฀behalf฀of฀farmers฀who฀were฀demanding฀more฀ land฀in฀so-called฀clean฀areas.10 ฀Later,฀the฀CO฀discovered฀that฀Girouard฀had฀ promised฀land฀on฀Laikipia฀to฀settlers฀before฀the฀Maasai฀had฀“agreed”฀to฀ vacate฀it฀and฀lied฀to฀the฀CO฀about฀these฀pledges—a฀deception฀that฀led฀to฀ his฀downfall. ฀ According฀to฀official correspondence฀between฀London฀and฀BEA,฀the฀ highlands฀were฀free฀of฀ECF฀at฀this฀stage.฀In฀February฀1910,฀Girouard฀begged฀ the฀CO฀for฀more฀money฀to฀prevent฀ECF’s฀spreading฀to฀the฀highlands.฀A฀ 148฀฀|฀฀฀Lotte฀Hughes year฀ later,฀ Laikipia฀ was฀ apparently฀ still฀ free฀ of฀ the฀ disease฀ when฀Acting฀ Chief฀Veterinary฀Officer฀Francis฀Brandt฀visited฀the฀Northern฀Reserve฀to฀investigate ฀an฀outbreak฀of฀bovine฀pleuropneumonia฀(BPP)฀in...