Identifying target areas for risk-based surveillance and control of transboundary animal diseases: a seasonal analysis of slaughter and live-trade cattle movements in Uganda.

Animal movements are a major driver for the spread of Transboundary Animal Diseases (TADs). These movements link populations that would otherwise be isolated and hence create opportunities for susceptible and infected individuals to meet. We used social network analysis to describe the seasonal network structure of cattle movements in Uganda and unravel critical network features that identify districts or sub-regions for targeted risk-based surveillance and intervention.

Improvement in the Surveillance System for Livestock Diseases and Antimicrobial Use Following Operational Research Studies in Sierra Leone January-March 2023.

In Sierra Leone, two operational research (OR) studies in 2019 and 2021 showed deficiencies in the data being captured by the Integrated Animal Disease Surveillance and Reporting (IADSR) system. This third OR study was conducted in 2023 to assess whether the second OR study's results and recommendations were disseminated with the key stakeholders, the uptake of the recommendations, improvements in data capture in the IADSR system, and to describe the data on livestock disease and antimicrobial use. In 2022, on seven occasions, the authors of the second OR study disseminated the study's findings.

Mapping the risk of Rift Valley fever in Uganda using national seroprevalence data from cattle, sheep and goats.

Uganda has had repeated outbreaks of Rift Valley fever (RVF) since March 2016 when human and livestock cases were reported in Kabale after a long interval. The disease has a complex and poorly described transmission patterns which involves several mosquito vectors and mammalian hosts (including humans). We conducted a national serosurvey in livestock to determine RVF virus (RVFV) seroprevalence, risk factors, and to develop a risk map that could be used to guide risk-based surveillance and control measures.

An Update on the Surveillance of Livestock Diseases and Antimicrobial Use in Sierra Leone in 2021-An Operational Research Study.

In Sierra Leone, in 2020, a study by the Livestock and Veterinary Services Division (Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry) on the surveillance system of animal diseases and antimicrobial use found poor reporting. Of the expected weekly districts reports, <1% were received and only three of the 15 districts had submitted reports occasionally between 2016 and 2019. Following this, staff-capacity-building on reporting was undertaken.

Measurement and sampling error in mixed-methods research for the control of Peste des Petits Ruminants in the Karamoja subregion of Northeastern Uganda: A cautionary tale.

A team of interdisciplinary researchers undertook a mixed methods, participatory epidemiology (PE) based study as part of a pilot project for localized control of Peste des petits ruminants (PPR), a small ruminant disease of high socio-economic impact. Mixed methods research combines qualitative and quantitative methods, allowing iterative comparison of results to arrive at a more comprehensive and informed outcome. In this study, the use of PE and a household survey (HHS) resulted in contradictory results.