Nothing Special   »   [go: up one dir, main page]

NPR

As A Boy, He Learned About Science By Rubbing Calves' Ears

Dr. Thumbi Mwangi had a eureka moment when he began researching a cattle disease in the U.S. The treatment was the same thing his dad the farmer had him do when he was growing up in Kenya.
Dr. Thumbi Mwangi, an infectious disease epidemiologist from Kenya, at Howard Theatre in Washington, DC, on Nov. 29, 2016. In the U.S., Mwangi worked on a vaccine for cows that aimed to combat the same disease he saw the bovine battle in Kenya as a kid.

When Dr. Thumbi Mwangi was a child growing up in Kenya, his father would send him out to care for the calves.

There was a disease — E — infecting cattle. If the cattle were infected with the protozoan, it could be deadly. Mwangi's job was to rub the young cattle gently behind the ears, to see if he could feel their lymph nodes. If the lymphs were swollen, it could mean that the calf was getting sick. If the illness was treated in time with buparvaquone, the calf could be saved — and the animal would be immune

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from NPR

NPR1 min read
Summer School 7: The Great Depression, The New Deal And How It Changed Our Economy
Find all the episodes from this season here. And past seasons here. And follow along on TikTok here for video Summer School. When we last left the United States of America in our economic telling of history, it was the early 1900s and the country's l
NPR1 min read
How To Get A Haircut In Space
Hey, Short Wavers! Today we're sharing an excerpt of the new NPR podcast How To Do Everything. How To Do Everything is half advice show, half survival guide, and half absurdity-fest — and it's not made by anyone who understands math. In fact, it come
NPR1 min read
Summer School 2: The Golden Ages Of Labor And Looms
Who has the power? Workers or bosses? It changes through the ages, though it's usually the bosses. Today, we look at two key moments when the power of labor shifted, for better and worse, and we ask why then? What does history have to say about labor

Related Books & Audiobooks