What are the main causes of mortality?
A. Mortality of young piglets is generally high and is mainly due to starvation and separation from their mothers. Virtually all piglets in an area will die when conditions are poor such as during droughts. This falls to a loss rate of about 10 to 15% when there are good supplies of food and weather conditions are favourable. Adult mortality varies from 15% to 50% and is caused mainly by starvation and human intervention. Few adults live past five years of age in western NSW. Dingoes and feral dogs can also take substantial numbers of young pigs but it is not known whether dogs can limit the size or the distribution of feral pig populations.
The survey could be used for monitoring or evaluation of interventions to reduce child mortality. Once care seeking behaviors and sources of care are determined, changes in behavior can also be evaluated over time. Key Indicators General Child Mortality Indicators Demographic Indicators Prior Health Status and Care Indicators Socio-Cultural Indicators Research design Standard protocol: There are several distinct steps to using this tool. Total time estimated for planning, implementation and analysis is 28 weeks which does not include a full year of surveillance. The perinatal/neonatal section could be carried out more rapidly – perhaps in 12 – 16 weeks. Formative research is needed to test local terms, etc., and to modify the questionnaires. Main tasks and suggested time frames are as follows: • Selection of project coordinator, organization of coordinating committee, expert panel, community partnership group, orient partnership group to study and concepts, select the survey or surveil
