In September, Earthranger Health organised a multi-sectoral workshop to develop a framework for early detection and response to wildlife-borne zoonotic diseases in biodiverse, geographically remoter areas of Kenya and further afield.
Vetinwild’s Dr. Stephen Chege was among the attendees, which included veterinarians, epidemiologists, ecologists, public health officials, wildlife area managers and researchers, community representatives, and policymakers.
Earthranger Health brings in huge value in wildlife-borne disease control. The earlier you detect the disease the better. So that is a huge value, as we are able to detect the disease before the spillover. Dr. Stephen Chege, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance/Founder Vetinwild
Four priority areas
The zoonoses identified as priority diseases to be focused on during the workshop were:
Rift Valley Fever (RVF)
Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever (CCHF)
Anthrax
Rabies
Participants identified interventions for these pathogens before the occurrence of a spillover event (pre-spillover) and after an outbreak (post-outbreak), then evaluated meaningful criteria against which these interventions can be compared.
Watch Below: Earthranger Health – Next Generation Monitoring of Wildlife Health Explained