Participatory disease searching

The eradication of rinderpest requires the last cases of clinical disease to be located and eliminated. It also requires verification of the absence of clinical disease. Both processes are problematic in the more remote pastoralist regions of the Horn of Africa, characterised by poor infrastructure, harsh terrain and insecurity. Yet pastoralist know a lot about rinderpest.

Participatory disease searching (PDS) is really a hunt for disease using participatory methods to capture local knowledge. Its an inductive approach whereby clues from one area or informant leads the PDS team to other areas where rinderpest might be present. Suspected cases of rinderpest are sampled and good laboratory support is an important aspect of the process.

PDS is now used by government veterinary services and NGOs in Africa with support from the African Union/Interafrican Bureau for Animal Resources, and the Food and Agriculture Organisation. The approach has also been used by government veterinary services in Pakistan, again with FAO support - for more information from Pakistan click here

Useful references

Mariner, J.C. and Flanagan, F. (1996). Epidemiological intelligence on the incidence of rinderpest in Somalia and northeast Kenya. Food and Agriculture Organization, Rome. Contact jeffreymariner@yahoo.com

Mariner, J.C. and Roeder, P.L. (2003). Use of participatory epidemiology in studies of the persistence of lineage 2 rinderpest virus in east Africa. Veterinary Record, 152, 641-647. Reprints from jeffreymariner@yahoo.com

Mariner, J.C., Manzoor Hussain, Roeder, P.L., and Catley, A. (2003). The use of participatory disease searching in Pakistan as a form of active disease surveillance for rinderpest and more. Xth Symposium of the International Society of Veterinary Epidemiology and Economics, November, 2003, Santiago, Chile. download PDF file (file size 69KB)