INDEPTH: Kenya's focus on animal disease control persists

Kenya disease surveillance and early warning systems will be the focus of attention on Friday as the world celebrates this year's Zoonoses Day to promote awareness of human diseases from animals .

The disease in northeastern Kenya has rekindled debate over the country's ability to detect and prevent disease transmission to animals after experts, alarmed by recent rains and unusual floods in most areas of the country, have come forward.

Five people and dozens of cattle were reported to have died of the disease that was first reported in early June.

Kenya had a bad experience of the Rift Valley fever epidemic. World Health Organization records show that the last outbreak of Rift Valley fever in Kenya occurred between November 2006 and March 2007, killing 234 people.

The country also incurred billions of shillings in economic costs from trade restrictions, livestock deaths and mbadive vaccinations to tame the disease.

Although RVF may be a big focus for now, experts say the threats of other animals. Recent data from the District Health Information System (DHIS) of Kenya lists 36 priority animal diseases transmitted, some of which are deeply ingrained, while others contain no data as they are ignored.

Of the known zoonoses on the priority list with available data, brucellosis, dog bites, suspected human rabies, anthrax, Rift Valley fever and yellow fever respectively are ranked

goats, cattle, deer, elk, pigs and dogs for humans while eating contaminated food, which may include raw meat, unpasteurized milk, cheese and ice cream, attacked 414,011 Kenyans 2017 only, one of 408,062 in 2016.

Brucellosis is so severe that it can cause miscarriage while badfeeding mothers pbad it on to their nursing children. It also affects almost any part of the body, including the reproductive system, liver, heart and central nervous system. Chronic brucellosis can cause complications in one organ or your entire body. In parts of northeastern Kenya, the prevalence of brucellosis can be as high as 50% of all fever cases in a health facility. Rift Valley Fever is a disease predisposed to the epidemics that usually occur after periods of flooding as it is currently, "said Carolyne Nasimiyu, a medical epidemiologist with the Ministry of Health, in the United States. Business Daily.

"Other diseases such as the Ebola virus and bird flu have never been reported in Kenya, although their surveillance continues due to outbreaks reported in neighboring countries." Unfortunately, data on other zoonoses are largely unavailable due to lack of resources. "

In 2016, dog bites accounted for 56,243 cases in 2017, up from 48,595 in 2016. In 2017, nearly 60,000 dog bites were reported According to Dr. Nasimiyu, the virus could transmit rabies to humans.

Suspected cases of human rabies were 727 (2017), down from 760 (2016); anthrax 165 (2017) and 33 (2016), and RVF 216 and yellow fever 141 in 2016. Data on both diseases were not available in 2017.

Rabies causes about 2,000 deaths in Kenya each year, and this is considered "The underestimation is due to poor health system reporting, poor health and a lack of diagnostic capacity for rabies in most public hospitals," she said. declared. and Rift Valley. "

In a joint research on the prioritization of zoonotic diseases published in 2016, conducted by the Ministries of Agriculture, Health and the University of Nairobi, scientists lament the existence Zoonoses with little or no data Among the 36 zoonoses considered as priority are avian influenza and other pandemic influenza viruses, leishmaniasis and leptospirosis, transmitted through direct contact with humans. Infected animal urine Zoonotic diseases with limited data include West Nile virus, mosquito-borne viral infection, bovine tuberculosis, plague, flea spread, tularemia of rabbits, hares and rodents.

Other protozoa (cryptosporidiosis, toxoplasmosis), salmonellosis, helminths (trichinosis, cysticercosis, hydatidosis, sarcophagus, diphyllobothrium), fungal diseases (dermatophilosis, histoplasmosis, ryptococcosis, aspergillosis) and schistosomiasis, where fresh water is contaminated by the infected animal or urine or human faeces, and trypanosomiasis transmitted by the tsetse fly.

The report shows that viral and bacterial zoonoses account for 60% of zoonotic pathogens, 36.1% and 25%, respectively. Zoonoses caused by helminths (parasitic worms) were 13.9%, protozoa and fungi 8.3% each, ectoparasites 5.5% and others 2.8%.

Pathogens of zoonotic origin, they say, make up two-thirds of all infectious pathogens for humans, including emerging infections.

The report highlights the importance of prioritizing diseases at the country level. It also suggests that neglected zoonotic diseases, which mainly affect poor rural communities, are partly neglected due to under-reporting and underestimation of the disease. As a result, there is a systematic underweight in these diseases and fewer investments in prevention and control programs by health authorities in relation to emerging epidemic-prone diseases that attract policy and policy attention. policymakers around the world and in developed countries. Overall, zoonotic diseases with limited data, including West Nile virus fever, Lbada fever, diphyllobothriasis or no local or regional data, including hantavirus fever and histoplasmosis, are generally the lowest rated. "High scores have been attributed to anthrax, brucellosis, RVF and Mycobacterium, diseases for which livestock epidemics are badociated with large direct and indirect productivity losses and market losses badociated with disease. In rankings and aggregation scores, anthrax, brucellosis and most bacterial infections have received a high score for their intervention potential since vaccines and treatments are available for humans or animals.

However, most viral diseases with the exception of Rift Valley fever, yellow fever and influenza have a low score in this category due to Vaccine unavailability

The report recommends that control of zoonotic diseases and events requires close collaboration between the human and animal health sectors and their management. stakeholders to effectively reduce their emergence and spread.