Where and when to vaccinate? Interdisciplinary design and evaluation of the 2018 Tanzanian anti-rabies campaign.

OBJECTIVES: Hoping to improve health-related effectiveness, a two-phase vaccination against rabies was designed and executed in northern Tanzania in 2018, which included geo-epidemiological and economic perspectives. METHODS: Considering the local bio-geography and attempting to rapidly establish a protective ring around a city at risk, the first phase intervened on sites surrounding that city, where the population density was lower than in the city at risk. The second phase vaccinated a rural area. RESULTS: No rabies-related case has been reported in the vaccinated areas for over a year post-immunisation; hence, the campaign is viewed as highly cost-effective. Other metrics included: rapid implementation (concluded in half the time spent on other campaigns) and the estimated cost per protected life, which was 3.28 times lower than in similar vaccinations. CONCLUSIONS: The adopted design emphasised local bio-geographical dynamics: it prevented the occurrence of an epidemic in a city with a higher demographic density than its surrounding area and it also achieved greater effectiveness than average interventions. These interdisciplinary, policy-oriented experiences have broad and immediate applications in settings of limited and/or time-sensitive (expertise, personnel, and time available to intervene) resources and conditions.

Phytochemical analysis and in-vitro anti-African swine fever virus activity of extracts and fractions of Ancistrocladus uncinatus, Hutch and Dalziel (Ancistrocladaceae).

BACKGROUND: African swine fever (ASF), a highly contagious fatal acute haemorrhagic viral disease of pigs currently has no treatment or vaccination protocol and it threatens the pig industry worldwide. Recent outbreaks were managed by farmers with ethnoveterinary preparations with various claims of effectiveness. RESULTS: We identified 35 compounds using GC-MS protocol and ASF virus (NIG 99) was significantly reduced by some extracts and fractions of the plant. However, the plant was poorly extracted by water and cytotoxicity was found to be a major problem with the use of the plant since its extracts also reduced the primary cells used in the assay. CONCLUSION: It is confirmed that the plant has antiviral potentials against ASF virus and farmers' claims seem to have certain degree of veracity, but finding the best means of exploring the potential of the plant while reducing its cytotoxic effect in-vitro and in-vivo will be necessary.