Control of African swine fever (ASF) in countries in Eastern, Central and SouthernAfrica (ECSA) is particularly complex owing to the presence of all three known epidemiological cycles of maintenance of the virus, namely an ancient sylvatic cycle involving the natural hosts and vectors of the disease as well as domestic cycles with and without involvement of natural vectors. While the situation is well documented in some of the countries, for others very little information is available. In spite of the unfavourable ASF situation, the pig population in the sub-region has grown exponentially in recent decades and is likely to continue to grow in response to rapid urban growth resulting in increasing demand for animal protein by populations that are no longer engaged in livestock production. Better management of ASF will be essential to permit the pig sector to reach its full potential as a supplier of high quality protein and a source of income to improve livelihoods and create wealth. No vaccine is currently available and it is likely that, in the near future, the sub-region will continue to rely on the implementation of preventive measures, based on the epidemiology of the disease, to avoid both the devastating losses that outbreaks can cause and the risk the sub-region poses to other parts of Africa and the world. The current situation in the ECSA sub-region is reviewed and gaps in knowledge are identified in order to support ongoing strategy development for managing ASF in endemic areas.

Rabies is a preventable fatal disease that causes about 61,000 human deaths annually around the world, mostly in developing countries. In Africa, several studies have shown that vaccination of pets is effective in controlling the disease. An annual vaccination coverage of 70% is recommended by the World Health Organization as a control threshold. The effective control of rabies requires vaccination coverage of owned dogs. Identification of the factors determining dog owners’ choice to vaccinate is necessary for evidence-based policy-making. However, for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the limited data on rabies vaccination coverage makes it difficult for its control and formulation of appropriate policies. A cross-sectional study was conducted in Kinshasa (Lemba commune) with dog-owning households and owned dogs as study populations. The association between dog vaccination and independent factors (household socio-demographics characteristics, dog characteristics, knowledge of rabies and location of veterinary offices/clinics) was performed with Epi-info 7. The Odds Ratio (OR) and p-value < 0.05 were used to determine levels of significance. A total of 166 households owning dogs and 218 owned dogs were investigated. 47% of the dogs had been vaccinated within one year preceding the survey which is higher than the critical coverage (25 to 40%) necessary to interrupt rabies transmission but below the 70% threshold recommended by WHO for control. The determinants of vaccination included socio-economic level of the household (OR = 2.9, p<0.05), formal education level of the dog owner (OR = 4, p<0.05), type of residence (OR = 4.6, p<0.05), knowledge of rabies disease (OR = 8.0, p<0.05), knowledge of location of veterinary offices/clinics (OR = 3.4, p<0.05), dog gender (OR = 1.6, p<0.05) and dog breed (OR = 2.1, p<0.05). This study shows that the vaccination coverage in this area can easily reach the WHO threshold if supplemented by mass vaccination campaigns.

Purpose: Rabies kills every year 61 000 humans in the world, mainly in Asia and Africa. In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), rabies is endemic and the dog is the main vector of human rabies. From 1937 to 2017, around 1400 positive dog rabies cases were recorded across the country. The study aims to better understand the epidemiological factors of rabies maintenance in dogs in Kinshasa. Methods & Materials:We conducted 4 studies. (i) A household survey in 22 study sites in 3 municipalities of Kinshasa suburb (Mont-Ngafula, Ngaliema and Lemba). It provided information about the dog density, roaming and vaccination coverage. Based on these factors, a risk scale of rabies transmission was established. (ii) Owned dogs (n = 16) were tracked during 24 hours using GPS collars. The probability of contact with other dogs was calculated. (iii) The proportion of feral dogs was estimated by the street count method. (iv) Finally, the serological status of dogs that were reported vaccinated was checked. Generalized linear models were used for statistical analysis.Results: We recorded 922 dogs in 504 surveyed households. 60% (2-100%) of these dogs were free roaming. Feral dogs were estimated to be less than 2% of the free roaming dogs. Dog density was estimated to be 47 dogs/km 2 . The mean distance covered by tracked dogs was 0.718 km (0.046-2.341 km) per day and each dog had a chance to come in contact with 27 free roaming dogs. The vaccination coverage was 53% (24-81%). 91% of the dogs that were reported vaccinated (n = 131) were seropositive, confirming owners' reports. The proportion of protected dogs (serology ≥0.5 IU/ml) was not associated with the time since the last vaccination (p = 0.4). In DRC, vaccination of dogs is exclusively funded by owners. This may explain why the coverage is low in young (≤1 year old) and free roaming dogs. The estimated risk of rabies transmission ranged from moderate to high in 80% of study sites (n = 22).Conclusion: The risk of rabies transmission is high in the study area, given the high proportion of unvaccinated free roaming dogs and low vaccination coverage (<70%) mainly in young dogs.ARES-CUD funded this research.