Rabies Elimination in Rural Kenya: Need for Improved Availability of Human Vaccines, Awareness and Knowledge on Rabies and Its Management Among Healthcare Workers.

Background: In Africa, rabies causes an estimated 24,000 human deaths annually. Mass dog vaccinations coupled with timely post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) for dog-bite patients are the main interventions to eliminate human rabies deaths. A well-informed healthcare workforce and the availability and accessibility of rabies biologicals at health facilities are critical in reducing rabies deaths.

Risk Factors for Outbreaks of Lumpy Skin Disease and the Economic Impact in Cattle Farms of Nakuru County, Kenya.

Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) is an emerging disease of cattle that causes substantial economic loss to affected regions. However, factors favouring transmission under field conditions and farm-level impacts are poorly quantified. This was a retrospective case-control study of cattle farms in Nakuru, Kenya to determine risk factors associated with lumpy skin disease and the farm-level economic impacts of an outbreak.

Knowledge and risk factors for foot-and-mouth disease among small-scale dairy farmers in an endemic setting.

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is a highly contagious viral infection of cloven-hoofed animals. In Kenya, the disease is endemic with outbreaks typically occurring throughout the year. A cross-sectional study was undertaken in Nakuru County to investigate farmer knowledge and risk factors for clinical disease.

Theileria parva infection seroprevalence and associated risk factors in cattle in Machakos County, Kenya.

The principle objective of this study was to estimate the infection seroprevalence and identify risk factors associated with Theileria parva infection in cattle on smallholder farms in Machakos County, Kenya. A total of 127 farms were selected by a proportional allocation approach based on the number of farms in four divisions in the county previously selected by stratified random sampling method. Subsequently, a total sample of 421 individual animals was randomly selected from the farms.