Project Title: Rabies Elimination Fellowship
Project Description: This research focuses on rabies, a deadly disease that has been widely neglected in low-income countries, where it circulates in domestic dog populations, exacting a heavy toll in human lives and economic costs; thousands of deaths occur every year and many millions of people require expensive life-saving post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) due to rabid dog bites.A substantive evidence base supporting the feasibility of rabies elimination through dog vaccination has been instrumental in persuading the FAO-OIE-WHO tripartite... This research focuses on rabies, a deadly disease that has been widely neglected in low-income countries, where it circulates in domestic dog populations, exacting a heavy toll in human lives and economic costs; thousands of deaths occur every year and many millions of people require expensive life-saving post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) due to rabid dog bites.A substantive evidence base supporting the feasibility of rabies elimination through dog vaccination has been instrumental in persuading the FAO-OIE-WHO tripartite to declare a 2030 global target for zero human deaths from dog-mediated rabies. A focus on endgame strategies is now imperative and is the overarching aim of this project. The specific objectives are to: I. Elucidate the mechanisms that drive the persistence of rabies and quantify factors that impede progress towards elimination II. Explore how surveillance can be improved to guide rabies control and elimination programmes III. Investigate strategies to rapidly control and eliminate rabies, minimize incursion risks, and verify and maintain disease freedom I.Large-scale intervention A vaccine delivery trial will be undertaken to determine the potential for thermo tolerant vaccines to improve the delivery and cost-effectiveness of dog vaccinations. Two delivery models will be compared: a team-led model of central point village-level vaccinations and community-led delivery organized through local rabies coordinators (RCs), who will also vaccinate puppies born subsequent to campaigns. Community-led campaigns are predicted to improve participation and reach compared to team-led campaigns,with use of RCs reducing declines in immunity from population turnover between campaigns, capitalizing on the ability to store vaccines locally outside of the cold chain. The trial will be conducted over two years (2018-2019) in 4 districts extending from Serengeti to Lake Victoria covering ~200 previously unvaccinated rural villages (Figure 1).Using mixed methods we will evaluate the impact, cost-effectiveness and process outcomes of these alternative vaccine delivery strategies. Trial results will determine the mode of vaccine delivery throughout Mara region in 2020 (Figure 1) and inform the roll out of vaccinations nationally through the Tanzanian National Rabies Control and Elimination Strategy (NARCES) with the objective of eliminating rabies by 2030.
Principal Investigator : Kennedy Lushasi
Department Name : EHES
Time frame: (2017-10-01) - (2027-10-31)
The University Court of the University of Glasgow (UoG) (Normal)
External Collaborating Partners
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