Building Laboratory Diagnostic Capacity for Zoonotic Disease Risk Mitigation in Underserved Arid and Semi-Arid Areas of Kenya
Abstract
The geographic focus of this project is East Africa, one of the predicted hotspots for emergence. The arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs) of Kenya have received scant attention with regard to developing the infrastructure and work force necessary for human and animal disease surveillance and diagnosis. In recent years, great progress has been made there in providing primary health centers for most remote ASAL locations, but the challenge of disease surveillance and diagnosis persists. We propose a comprehensive One Health-based program that will focus on three major objectives: 1) Develop disease-reporting systems based on mobile computing in two counties. Reporting will focus on rural outpatient clinics where emergence is most likely to occur. Automated detection of incipient outbreaks and potential biothreat events will trigger alerts to medical authorities and a telemedicine approach will be evaluated to enhance disease control. 2) Provide broad-spectrum capacity building to institutions and individuals in Kenya to enhance diagnostic expertise, reduce time to diagnosis, and establish acceptable biosafety and biosecurity practices. 3) Perform targeted surveillance for major zoonotic threats, including pathogen discovery. Project personnel will consist of scientists from Colorado State University, the University of Nairobi, and county health and veterinary sector staff. This project is designed to provide not only a sustainable and expandable biosurveillance system, but to deliver substantive scientific advances for detection and mitigation of emerging infectious diseases.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Dec 03, 2019
- Source ID
- HDTRA11910029
Entities
People
- Richard Bowen
Organizations
- Colorado State University
- Defense Threat Reduction Agency