Garissa intesifies surveillance to keep zoonotic diseases at bay

The Garissa county One Health coordination team has called for increased surveillance and control of zoonotic diseases.

There are fears the diseases could have spread across the border to Somalia during the dry season owing to the increased movement of people and livestock.

County livestock director Haret Hambe on Thursday said the multi-sectoral One Health coordination platform should set up joint health surveillance and roll out risk mapping.

He was speaking during the quarterly coordination meeting held at a hotel in Garissa town.

The team includes officials from the ministries of Health and Environment, veterinary services, KWS and donor partners.

“Reports show that more than 60 per cent of emerging infections in humans are of zoonotic origin, transmitted from animals to humans,” Hambe said.

The director said for successful health interventions, the cooperation of the county One Health technical working group was paramount.

The organisation is prioritising five key zoonoses of interest that need proper surveillance, coordinated investigation and quick outbreak response.

They include Anthrax, Rift Valley Fever, Rabies, Brucellosis and Trypanosomiasis.

The Garissa county One Health committee quarterly meeting that was organised by CORE GROUP came up with a raft of action points.

The action points aim at boosting successful health interventions to curb the infection and spread of the diseases.

Alight, WHO, UNICEF, Save the Children, county government directors and subcounty heads from departments of health and veterinary services were present.

Kenya adopted the One Health approach in 2006.

A multi-sectoral committee aligned with global recommendations to coordinate preparedness efforts to prevent the spread of HPAI in the wake of the global spread of H5N1 was established.

County One Health units focus on initiating or enhancing communication platforms between the health and livestock sectors.

This aims at improving surveillance and reporting of zoonotic diseases, ensuring rapid joint investigation and response to zoonotic disease outbreaks to mitigate their impacts.

Sharing of disease outbreak information across sectors and rapid joint outbreak response at county level has helped reduce the burden of spillover to humans that acquire zoonotic disease infections.

As of April 2017, 31 counties had established One Health units while through collaborations with other international partners the remaining units were to have fully operationalised units by 2019.

(Edited by Bilha Makokha)