Canine rabies elimination: governance principles.

Rabies is still one of the deadliest diseases known to exist in the 21st century, and yet it remains irresponsibly neglected and underestimated. In light of this, this paper discusses the principles of governance as they relate to rabies control, using examples of global intersectoral coordination programmes for the control of canine rabies and for the elimination of human rabies transmitted by dogs. The first of these programmes was the Meeting of Rabies Program Directors of the Americas (REDIPRA), which has served as a model of intersectoral success for rabies elimination in other regions. Examples of intersectoral cooperation on several continents, mainly between the health and agriculture sectors, are detailed to discuss various methods of achieving better technical cooperation. These cooperation programmes follow the 'coalition model' set by REDIPRA. They bring together various actors, such as governments, non-governmental organisations, the private sector, the science and research community, international cooperation agencies and donors, under a common umbrella for advocacy and for the implementation of local projects for the elimination of human rabies transmitted by dogs. Networking is the main intersectoral governance mechanism presented in this review.

Bien qu'elle soit connue pour être l'une des maladies faisant le plus de victimes au xxie siècle, la rage demeure fortement négligée et sous-estimée, traduisant un déficit de responsabilité en la matière. À la lumière de cet état de fait, les auteurs examinent les principes de gouvernance applicables à la lutte contre la rage, en prenant pour exemples les programmes mondiaux destinés à assurer la coordination intersectorielle de la lutte contre la rage canine et de l'élimination de la rage humaine transmise par les chiens. Le premier des programmes examinés est celui mis en oeuvre par les Réunions des Directeurs des Programmes nationaux de contrôle de la rage en Amérique latine (REDIPRA), qui a servi de modèle dans d'autres régions du monde en tant qu'exemple de coopération intersectorielle réussie pour l'élimination de la rage. Les auteurs examinent en détail quelques exemples de coopération intersectorielle dans différents continents et portant pour la plupart sur les secteurs de la santé et de l'agriculture, ce qui les conduit à mettre en avant les méthodes permettant d'améliorer la qualité de la coopération technique. Ces programmes de coopération s'inspirent du « modèle de coalition ¼ inauguré par les REDIPRA. Ils réunissent plusieurs acteurs tels que les gouvernements, les organisations non gouvernementales, le secteur privé, la communauté des chercheurs et des scientifiques, les agences de coopération internationale et les donateurs, autour d'un objectif commun axé sur la promotion et la mise en oeuvre des projets locaux d'élimination de la rage humaine transmise par les chiens. Le travail en réseaux est le principal mécanisme de gouvernance intersectorielle présenté dans cette analyse.

La rabia es todavía una de las enfermedades más mortíferas que se conocen y aún subsisten en el siglo XXI, pese a lo cual sigue estando, de forma harto irresponsable, desatendida y subestimada. Ante tal realidad, los autores exponen los principios de la gobernanza en relación con la lucha antirrábica, ofreciendo ejemplos de programas de coordinación intersectorial a escala mundial para combatir la rabia canina y eliminar la rabia humana transmitida por perros. El primero de tales programas fue la «Reunión de directores de programas contra la rabia de las Américas¼ (REDIPRA), que después ha servido de modelo de labor intersectorial eficaz para la eliminación de la rabia en otras regiones. Tras describir en detalle ejemplos de cooperación intersectorial en varios continentes, básicamente entre los sectores de la agricultura y la salud, los autores examinan varios métodos para dotar de más eficacia a la cooperación técnica. Estos programas de cooperación siguen el «modelo de coalición¼ establecido por la REDIPRA: se trata de federar a distintos interlocutores (gobiernos, organizaciones no gubernamentales, entidades del sector privado, círculos científicos y de investigación, organismos de cooperación internacional, donantes, etc.) en torno a un designio común de sensibilización y aplicación de proyectos locales para eliminar la rabia humana transmitida por perros. El trabajo en red es el principal mecanismo de gobernanza intersectorial que presentan los autores en estas líneas.

Ruminant brucellosis in Upper Egypt (2005-2008).

Brucellosis is endemic among humans and ruminant in Egypt and recent reports suggest that its incidence may be increasing. In this study we describe the frequency of brucellosis among different ruminant species in Upper Egypt and its spatial distribution using the data generated by a large-scale control campaign undertaken between 2005 and 2008. A total of 120,090 individual animals of different ruminant species were tested during the campaign. The true proportions of brucellosis were estimated as 0.79% (CI: 0.71%-0.87%), 0.13% (CI: 0.08%-0.18%), 1.16% (1.05%-1.27%) and 0.44% (0.34%-0.54%) among cattle, buffaloes, sheep and goats respectively. We estimated that 0.2% (CI: 0.16%-0.23%) of households in the study area keep at least one seropositive animal. Spatial autocorrelation of the proportions of seropositive households and seropositive animals was assessed using Global Univariate Moran's I and Local Univariate LISA. These analyses showed that the distribution of seropositive animals has considerable spatial heterogeneity with clustering in the northern governorates of the study area. Our results show that brucellosis is widespread and heterogeneously distributed in Upper Egypt. At the current level of available resources it is very unlikely that test and slaughter could be implemented with the intensity needed to be effective and other control measures that could replace or complement the test and slaughter policy in place should be considered. Also, this study illustrates some of the challenges faced by bilateral projects that have to accommodate an externally funded intervention with an ongoing national official disease control program.

A generic spreadsheet model of a disease epidemic with application to the first 100 days of the 2001 outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in the UK.

A generic, stochastic spreadsheet model was developed to calculate the number of cases within the first 100 days of a propagating epidemic and with the ability to incorporate generic control measures. Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) epidemics were simulated with a range of assumptions about the number of cases incubating the disease on day 1 and the efficiency of control measures. Particularly severe epidemics resulted from scenarios with low efficiency of control measures and high numbers incubating. Control measures that prevented 0.8 of cases from resulting in new cases were able to reduce substantially the cumulative number of cases. The results of various scenarios using the model were compared to the number of cases of FMD in the first 100 days of the 2001 outbreak in the UK, with specific reference to cases in Cumbria and Anglesey. Potential practical and educational applications of the model are discussed.