Identification and characterization of influenza A viruses in selected domestic animals in Kenya, 2010-2012.

Background: Influenza A virus subtypes in non-human hosts have not been characterized in Kenya. We carried out influenza surveillance in selected domestic animals and compared the virus isolates with isolates obtained in humans during the same period.

Methods: We collected nasal swabs from pigs, dogs and cats; oropharyngeal and cloacal swabs from poultry; and blood samples from all animals between 2010 and 2012.

Revision of clinical case definitions: influenza-like illness and severe acute respiratory infection.

The formulation of accurate clinical case definitions is an integral part of an effective process of public health surveillance. Although such definitions should, ideally, be based on a standardized and fixed collection of defining criteria, they often require revision to reflect new knowledge of the condition involved and improvements in diagnostic testing. Optimal case definitions also need to have a balance of sensitivity and specificity that reflects their intended use.

Nine-point plan to improve care of the injured patient: A case study from Kenya.

Background: Injury rates in low- and middle-income countries are among the greatest in the world, with >90% of unintentional injury occurring in low- or middle-income countries. The risk of death from injuries is 6 times more in low- and middle-income countries than in high-income countries. This increased rate of injury is partly due to the lack of availability and access to timely and appropriate medical care for injured individuals.

Predictive Factors and Risk Mapping for Rift Valley Fever Epidemics in Kenya.

Background: To-date, Rift Valley fever (RVF) outbreaks have occurred in 38 of the 69 administrative districts in Kenya. Using surveillance records collected between 1951 and 2007, we determined the risk of exposure and outcome of an RVF outbreak, examined the ecological and climatic factors associated with the outbreaks, and used these data to develop an RVF risk map for Kenya.

Methods: Exposure to RVF was evaluated as the proportion of the total outbreak years that each district was involved in prior epizootics, whereas risk of outcome was assessed as severity of observed disease in humans and animals for each district.

Normal laboratory reference intervals among healthy adults screened for a HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis clinical trial in Botswana.

Introduction: Accurate clinical laboratory reference values derived from a local or regional population base are required to correctly interpret laboratory results. In Botswana, most reference intervals used to date are not standardized across clinical laboratories and are based on values derived from populations in the United States or Western Europe.

Methods: We measured 14 hematologic and biochemical parameters of healthy young adults screened for participation in the Botswana HIV Pre-exposure Prophylaxis Study using tenofovir disoproxil fumarate and emtricitabine (TDF/FTC) (TDF2 Study).

Sequential Rift Valley fever outbreaks in eastern Africa caused by multiple lineages of the virus.

Background: During the Rift Valley fever (RVF) epidemic of 2006-2007 in eastern Africa, spatial mapping of the outbreaks across Kenya, Somalia, and Tanzania was performed and the RVF viruses were isolated and genetically characterized.

Methods: Following confirmation of the RVF epidemic in Kenya on 19 December 2006 and in Tanzania on 2 February 2007, teams were sent to the field for case finding. Human, livestock, and mosquito specimens were collected and viruses isolated.