Strengthening epidemio-surveillance capabilities and underlying regulatory frameworks in eastern Africa
Objective: To strengthen the policy frameworks supporting disease surveillance and to enhance national epidemiological and field veterinary preparedness and surveillance capabilities in Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania. The impact of these activities will be to mitigate the threat posed by pathogens of security concern to East Africa and to improve the rapid and effective detection, diagnosis and reporting of such pathogens.
Activities implemented:
- Supported partner countries to develop and strengthen national policy frameworks for epidemio-surveillance systems.
- Enabled the target countries to develop country specific and disease specific surveillance and control plans, as well as disease preparedness plans for various diseases, including African swine fever (ASF), Rift Valley fever, peste des petits ruminants, anthrax, lumpy skin disease and highly pathogenic avian influenza.
- Provided mentorship to 12 participatory epidemiology/participatory disease search (PE/PDS) trainees from the four countries who have received or are receiving training from FAO under previous or potentially ongoing Defense Threat Reduction Agency funded activities.
- Organized a series of national symposiums to enable PE/PDS trainees to present the outcomes of their field studies and facilitate knowledge sharing.
Results:
- Enabled the beneficiary countries to develop national surveillance plans, control strategies, and preparedness, response and contingency plans, which are already being used by the national veterinary services. For example, the United Republic of Tanzania implemented its ASF strategy to address an outbreak in the Southern Highlands region from October to November 2020. Furthermore, Uganda applied the national anthrax control strategy to address an occurrence near Queen Elizabeth National Park in December 2020 and January 2021.
- Strengthened the knowledge and skills of professionals, including epidemiologists and national risk managers, with staff trained under this project appointed to positions of responsibility at the country level. The increased capacity has therefore enhanced the infrastructure to prevent and respond to specific epizootics of transboundary animal diseases.
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations