Modelling seasonal household variation in harvested rainwater availability: a case study in Siaya County, Kenya.

Rainwater harvesting reliability, the proportion of days annually when rainwater demand is fully met, is challenging to estimate from cross-sectional household surveys that underpin international monitoring. This study investigated the use of a modelling approach that integrates household surveys with gridded precipitation data to evaluate rainwater harvesting reliability, using two local-scale household surveys in rural Siaya County, Kenya as an illustrative case study. We interviewed 234 households, administering a standard questionnaire that also identified the source of household stored drinking water. Logistic mixed effects models estimated stored rainwater availability from household and climatological variables, with random effects accounting for unobserved heterogeneity. Household rainwater availability was significantly associated with seasonality, storage capacity, and access to alternative improved water sources. Most households (95.1%) that consumed rainwater faced insufficient supply of rainwater available for potable needs throughout the year, with intermittencies during the short rains for most households with alternative improved sources. Although not significant, stored rainwater lasts longer for households whose only improved water source was rainwater (301.8 ± 40.2 days) compared to those having multiple improved sources (144.4 ± 63.7 days). Such modelling analysis could enable rainwater harvesting reliability estimation, and thereby national/international monitoring and targeted follow-up fieldwork to support rainwater harvesting.

Food safety interventions in low- and middle-income countries in Asia: A systematic review.

Effective and sustainable interventions are necessary for long-term improvement of food safety. This review provides a summary of food safety interventions evaluated in selected low- and middle-income countries in Asia between 2000 and 2020. A systematic screening of published articles from PubMed and CabDirect databases was carried out with the aid of Rayyan QCRI software. A total of 25 studies were considered in the review. A 'before and after' study design was the most frequently used design (64%), while five studies (20%) used a randomized control trial (RCT) design. Interventions applied focused on training to improve knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) towards safe food (60%) or on specific technologies (40%). Nine of the 25 studies were specific on the value chain considered: cattle (1), poultry (1), pigs (4) and fish value chains (3). Except for one study, all interventions reported some level of success; 17 were rated as having a high level of success, defined differently across studies. However, there is a clear evidence gap for the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of food safety interventions in market settings, both consumer- and vendor-facing. A rigorous and standardized assessment of intervention effectiveness and sustainability is recommended, to not only identify areas of improvement, but also to ensure scaling of interventions with demonstrated evidence of success and sustainability.

One Health gains momentum in Africa but room exists for improvement.

Objectives: The degree of One-Healthiness of a system relates to the effectiveness of an institution to operate within the six main dimensions which identify to what extent it complies with One Health concept. This paper evaluates institutional compliance with One Health concept in 14 institutions from eight African countries. Methods: We utilised the adapted Network for the Evaluation of One Health (NEOH) tool. The institutions included six national One Health platforms and eight other institutions utilizing One Health approaches. Semi-quantitative evaluation of One Health platforms' competencies in six aspects/dimensions concerning One Health operations and infrastructure: Systems Thinking, Planning, Transdisciplinary working, Sharing, Learning and Systemic Organization, was conducted. Results: The evaluation revealed that although all aspects of One Health scored above average, systemic organization and working in One Health were the strongest areas where tremendous gains had been made across the evaluated countries. The aspects of planning, sharing, learning, and thinking should be optimized to achieve gains emanating from One Health approaches in Africa. Cultural and social balance, and integrated health approach were the strongest areas under working and thinking respectively. Thinking was particularly challenged in areas of dimensions coverage and balance, while planning was challenged in the areas of capacity for detection, identification, monitoring of infectious diseases; biosafety and quality management; skills through taught and distance-learning programmes; information and communication technologies to support learning and skills through research apprenticeships. Conclusion: We conclude that although One Health has gained momentum in Africa, there still exists room for improvement. The revealed strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and gaps in One Health implementation provide an opportunity for prioritization and refocusing of efforts and resources to strengthen the identified weak areas.

A spatiotemporal analysis of cattle herd movement in relation to drinking-water sources: implications for Cryptosporidium control in rural Kenya.

Given the increasing evidence that domestic contact with livestock is a risk factor for child diarrhoea in low- and middle-income countries, there have been calls for greater quantification of human-livestock contact in such countries. This study aimed to quantify seasonality in cattle proximity to domestic water sources and household compounds and develop a preliminary landscape model of faecal deposition by cattle. A total of 120 cattle in smallholder herds in the Asembo area of Siaya County, Kenya, were tracked over 1 week in April 2018 to July 2018 and November 2018 to February 2019 using GPS tracking devices. Dung deposition and behaviour were observed among 33 cattle from these herds over 185.4 hours. Mean cattle home ranges were small at 3.78 km2 and 5.85 km2 in the wet and dry seasons, respectively. There were significant differences between seasons in home range size, distance travelled from the household, and time spent tethered, but not in the time spent at domestic water sources or home range overlap with other herds. On average, 0.76 dung deposition events/hour were observed, with higher frequency in bulls. Variation in cattle proximity to household compounds and water sources did not account for seasonal variation in child diarrhoea in this population. The preliminary landscape model of faecal deposition by cattle could be further developed to inform interventions for safe separation of livestock and people, such as fencing and separate water troughs.

Assessment of Foodborne Disease Hazards in Beverages Consumed in Nigeria: A Systematic Literature Review.

Risk assessment is a formal process of identifying hazards and assessing the risk associated with them (risk is a combination of the severity of illness and the probability of occurrence). This review highlights foodborne disease hazards reported in beverages consumed in Nigeria for the period between 2000 and 2020. Based on a preregistered protocol and search syntax, studies were retrieved from the PubMed, Google Scholar, and ScienceDirect databases. Rayyan QCRI software was used to screen the articles. Data were then extracted from the included full-text articles, into a standardized excel workbook. A total of 18,762 articles were identified, from which 126 were included in the final analyses. The common beverages studied were sachet water (14.9%), borehole/well water (13.9%), cereal-based beverages (12.1%), raw/fresh milk (8.3%) and nono/nunu, which is a fermented milk-cereal beverage (7.2%). Sufficient data were available to undertake pooled prevalence estimates for some hazards within select beverages and revealed contamination rates for Staphylococcus spp. in raw/fresh milk, 12.3% (95% CI 6.3-20.0); Salmonella spp. in borehole/well water, 19.8% (95% CI 13.1-27.4); Klebsiella spp. in sachet water, 40.0% (95% CI 12.4-71.7); Staphylococcus spp. in nono/nunu, 32.6% (95% CI 14.7-53.8), and Escherichia spp. in nono/nunu, 30.7% (95% CI 21.9-40.2). Heterogeneity was present in the aggregate summary estimates. This review has highlighted the presence of several hazards of high importance to public health in commonly consumed beverages in Nigeria. The data presented here provide an entry point for future quantitative risk assessments both to determine the level of exposure of the community to these hazards and also for the identification of the most effective mitigation strategies to reduce these risks and improve health outcomes in Nigeria.

A mixed methods study to evaluate participatory mapping for rural water safety planning in western Kenya.

Water safety planning is an approach to ensure safe drinking-water access through comprehensive risk assessment and water supply management from catchment to consumer. However, its uptake remains low in rural areas. Participatory mapping, the process of map creation for resource management by local communities, has yet to be used for rural water safety planning. In this mixed methods study, to evaluate the validity of participatory mapping outputs for rural water safety planning and assess community understanding of water safety, 140 community members in Siaya County, Kenya, attended ten village-level participatory mapping sessions. They mapped drinking-water sources, ranked their safety and mapped potential contamination hazards. Findings were triangulated against a questionnaire survey of 234 households, conducted in parallel. In contrast to source type ranking for international monitoring, workshop participants ranked rainwater's safety above piped water and identified source types such as broken pipes not explicitly recorded in water source typologies often used for formal monitoring. Participatory mapping also highlighted the overlap between livestock grazing areas and household water sources. These findings were corroborated by the household survey and subsequent participatory meetings. However, comparison with household survey data suggested participatory mapping outputs omitted some water sources and landscape-scale contamination hazards, such as open defecation areas or flood-prone areas. In follow-up visits, participant groups ranked remediation of rainwater harvesting systems as the most acceptable intervention to address hazards. We conclude that participatory mapping can complement other established approaches to rural water safety planning by capturing informally managed source use and facilitating community engagement.

Effect of Inter-Observer Variation on the Association between Contamination Hazards and the Microbiological Quality of Water Sources: A Longitudinal Study.

Sanitary risk inspection protocols are often used to identify contamination hazards at water sources; however, different observers sometimes struggle to record hazards consistently. This study aimed to assess the effect of inter-observer variation in hazard observations on the strength of relationships between observed hazards and the bacterial contamination of water sources, particularly relationships with animal-related hazards. In a longitudinal study, five surveyors independently recorded hazards at 93 water sources used by 234 households in Siaya County, Kenya, in both wet and dry seasons. One surveyor collected samples from sources for subsequent Escherichia coli and intestinal enterococci testing. The relationship between each surveyor's hazard observations and high bacterial contamination was examined using logistic regression. After controlling for water source type and preceding rainfall; percentage scores for animal-related hazards were significantly related to high contamination with enterococci and E. coli for one surveyor (odds ratio 1.02; 95% confidence intervals 1.00-1.03 for both parameters), but not for the remaining four surveyors. The relationship between observed contamination hazards and the microbiological contamination of water sources is sensitive to variation in hazard recording between surveyors. Sanitary risk protocols should be designed to enable robust and consistent observation of hazards.

An Assessment of Inter-Observer Agreement in Water Source Classification and Sanitary Risk Observations.

Sanitary risk inspection, an observation protocol for identifying contamination hazards around water sources, is promoted for managing rural water supply safety. However, it is unclear how far different observers consistently identify contamination hazards and consistently classify water source types using standard typologies. This study aimed to quantify inter-observer agreement in hazard identification and classification of rural water sources. Six observers separately visited 146 domestic water sources in Siaya County, Kenya, in wet and dry seasons. Each observer independently classified the source type and conducted a sanitary risk inspection using a standard protocol. Water source types assigned by an experienced observer were cross-tabulated against those of his colleagues, as were contamination hazards identified, and inter-observer agreement measures calculated. Agreement between hazards observed by the most experienced observer versus his colleagues was significant but low (intra-class correlation = 0.49), with inexperienced observers detecting fewer hazards. Inter-observer agreement in classifying water sources was strong (Cohen's kappa = 0.84). However, some source types were frequently misclassified, such as sources adapted to cope with water insecurity (e.g. tanks drawing on both piped and rainwater). Observers with limited training and experience thus struggle to consistently identify hazards using existing protocols, suggesting observation protocols require revision and their implementation should be supported by comprehensive training. Findings also indicate that field survey teams struggle to differentiate some water source types based on a standard water source classification, particularly sources adapted to cope with water insecurity. These findings demonstrate uncertainties underpinning international monitoring and analyses of safe water access via household surveys.

A longitudinal study of the association between domestic contact with livestock and contamination of household point-of-use stored drinking water in rural Siaya County (Kenya).

BACKGROUND: Emerging evidence suggests close domestic proximity of livestock and humans may lead to microbiological contamination of hands, objects, food and water supplies within domestic environments, adversely impacting public health. However, evidence quantifying the relationship between livestock, domestic animals, humans and microbiological contamination of household stored water remains limited. AIM: This longitudinal study aimed to examine the relationship between domestic contact with livestock and domestic animals on microbiological contamination of household Point-of-Use (POU) stored drinking water in rural Kenya and assess the influence of choice of faecal indicator on such associations. METHODOLOGY: A survey was performed in 234 households in Siaya county, Kenya, to observe presence of livestock (cattle, goats, poultry) and domestic animals (cats, dogs) in household compounds, alongside other risk factors for contamination of POU stored drinking water such as sanitation, storage conditions and hygiene practices. Samples from water sources (e.g. piped, spring/wells, boreholes, surface and rainwater) and from POU storage containers were tested for E. coli and intestinal enterococci. Livestock-related risk factors for water contamination were examined through multinomial regression, controlling for confounders. RESULTS: Rainwater was the main POU water source and was found to be highly susceptible to contamination. Multivariate analysis showed greater risk of gross (>100 CFU/100 mL) water contamination (with E. coli) for households where goats were observed, and/or where poultry roosted in proximity to stored household water (relative risk RR = 2.71; p = 0.001 and RR = 2.02; p = 0.012 respectively). Presence of a poultry coop was also associated with elevated intestinal enterococci densities (RR = 4.46; p = 0.001). Associations between contamination and livestock risk factors were thus similar for both bacteria groups, but E. coli counts declined more rapidly following collection from surface waters than enterococci counts (p = 0.024). CONCLUSION: The presence of livestock (particularly goats) and poultry within household compounds increases POU water contamination risk, suggesting the need for improved interventions to address cross-contamination within rural domestic settings. Within Siaya county, more effective community education is needed to raise awareness of POU water quality protection, particularly of rainwater.