High real-time reporting of domestic and wild animal diseases following rollout of mobile phone reporting system in Kenya

Abstract

Background To improve early detection of emerging infectious diseases in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), many of them zoonotic, numerous electronic animal disease-reporting systems have been piloted but not implemented because of cost, lack of user friendliness, and data insecurity. In Kenya, we developed and rolled out an open-source mobile phone-based domestic and wild animal disease reporting system and collected data over two years to investigate its robustness and ability to track disease trends. Methods The Kenya Animal Biosurveillance System (KABS) application was built on the Java® platform, freely downloadable for android compatible mobile phones, and supported by web-based account management, form editing and data monitoring. The application was integrated into the surveillance systems of Kenya’s domestic and wild animal sectors by adopting their existing data collection tools, and targeting disease syndromes prioritized by national, regional and international animal and human health agencies. Smartphone-owning government and private domestic and wild animal health officers were recruited and trained on the application, and reports received and analyzed by Kenya Directorate of Veterinary Services. The KABS application performed automatic basic analyses (frequencies, spatial distribution), which were immediately relayed to reporting officers as feedback. Results Of 697 trained domestic animal officers, 662 (95%) downloaded the application, and >72% of them started reporting using the application within three months. Introduction of the application resulted in 2- to 14-fold increase in number of disease reports when compared to the previous year (relative risk = 14, CI 13.8–14.2, p<0.001), and reports were more widely distributed. Among domestic animals, food animals (cattle, sheep, goats, camels, and chicken) accounted for >90% of the reports, with respiratory, gastrointestinal and skin diseases constituting >85% of the reports. Herbivore wildlife (zebra, buffalo, elephant, giraffe, antelopes) accounted for >60% of the wildlife disease reports, followed by carnivores (lions, cheetah, hyenas, jackals, and wild dogs). Deaths, traumatic injuries, and skin diseases were most reported in wildlife. Conclusions This open-source system was user friendly and secure, ideal for rolling out in other countries in SSA to improve disease reporting and enhance preparedness for epidemics of zoonotic diseases.

Strengthening global health security by improving disease surveillance in remote rural areas of low-income and middle-income countries

“…Mobile-phone-based syndromic surveillance of people and animals in remote rural areas could overcome barriers related to remoteness and guide veterinary and public health services. Kenya has deployed an integrated human and animal syndromic surveillance system, the Kenya Animal Biosurveillance System (KABS), 29 which targets disease syndromes prioritised by national health agencies, allowing health data from across the country to be rapidly transferred to health authorities. However, because KABS does not connect beyond clinically trained health-care professionals, its reach within remote rural areas is currently limited.…”

Higher livestock abortion burden in arid and semi-arid lands, Kenya, 2019–2020

“…While the standard field disease surveillance report from the Notifiable Disease-1 (ND-1) form in Kenya does not provide syndromic data, our abortion burden estimates correlated with data collected using an open-source animal disease reporting system that used mobile phones in collecting data for over two years in other parts of the country [ 15 ]. This study, therefore, showcased the underestimation surrounding the ’true’ incidence of abortion rates estimated using the manual surveillance systems in the country.…”

“…In response to this, we previously undertook two surveillance studies that demonstrated gaps and burden of livestock abortions—an active RVF surveillance effort where we found that livestock abortions accounted for 37% of the reported RVF-associated syndromes [ 14 ]. Our other study that used an open-source mobile phone-based disease reporting system among domestic and wild animals revealed a high frequency of livestock abortions exceeded only by respiratory, gastrointestinal and skin diseases [ 15 ]. Notably, these and other existing data on livestock abortion in Kenya has focused on specific diseases, locations, or species.…”

African Swine Fever Diagnosis in Africa: Challenges and Opportunities

“…Reluctance to report ASF due to fear of consequences like quarantine and movement bans is not uncommon [ 7 ], but in many instances, reporting is simply too difficult. The advent of mobile phones and their wide usage in Africa has greatly facilitated communication [ 6 , 83 , 84 , 85 ], but information as to who to inform may not be available in areas that are poorly served in terms of animal health. Clear lines of communication need to be established between pig keepers and other value chain actors and the veterinary services [ 6 , 11 ].…”