14 research outputs found
Importance Of Intersectoral Co-ordination In The Control Of Communicable Diseases With Special Reference To Plague In Tanzania
A CAJM article on the importance of inter-sectoral participation in the control of communicable diseases (with special reference to plague) in Tanzania.Human health, agriculture, including livestock, energy, education, wildlife, construction, forestry and trade sectors are inter-related and their co-ordination is an important pre-requisite for successful control of most communicable diseases including plague. Similar linkage between research, policy, training and extension activities in each sector are essential for any successful control strategy. Inadequate agricultural produce, inaccessibility of people to the available food and ignorance on proper preparation and usage of available food materials are responsible for malnutrition, and malnourished people are very vulnerable to disease
Preliminary observations on factors responsible for long persistence and continued outbreaks of plague in Lushoto district, Tanzania
Acta Tropica, 68 (1997) 215ā227Human plague has been an important public health problem in Tanzania for over a century. Recorded outbreaks of the disease have been reported from various parts of Tanzania, including Iringa, Kagera, Singida, Mbulu, Arusha and Kilimanjaro since 1886. Since 1980 however, only Lushoto, Singida and Karatu districts have experienced outbreaks of the disease. Of these areas, Lushoto has disproportionately high incidences of the disease and this has persisted for nearly 17 years. Efforts to curb the disease through conventional methods, including control of vectors and reservoirs, chemotherapy and chemoprophylaxis, enforcement of sanitation improvement as well as health education, have been applied every year, but plague cases and deaths continue to occur in the area to date. During the period April 1980 to December 1996, a total of 6599 cases with 580 (8.8%) deaths were recorded. Biological factors, such as the presence of suitable rodent reservoirs, efļ¬cient ļ¬ea vectors and plague bacillus, could be partly responsible for the long persistence and reccurence of the disease. Since such factors are also common in other plague foci where the disease has never been persistently recurrent, and where indigenous people are culturally different from those in Lushoto, it is assumed that socio-cultural factors play an important role as determinants of the disease in the latter district. This paper reports preliminary observations on socio-cultural, biological and environmental factors which are thought to be, at least partly, responsible for the long persistence and repeated outbreaks of plague in the district. These include traditional beliefs on the cause and health seeking behaviour for treatment of plague sleeping and food storage habits, large populations of rodents and ļ¬eas, and status of the immediate environment. Ā© 1997 Elsevier Science B.V
Preliminary observations on factors responsible for long persistence and continued outbreaks of plague in Lushoto district, Tanzania
Acta Tropica, 68 (1997) 215ā227Human plague has been an important public health problem in Tanzania for over a century. Recorded outbreaks of the disease have been reported from various parts of Tanzania, including Iringa, Kagera, Singida, Mbulu, Arusha and Kilimanjaro since 1886. Since 1980 however, only Lushoto, Singida and Karatu districts have experienced outbreaks of the disease. Of these areas, Lushoto has disproportionately high incidences of the disease and this has persisted for nearly 17 years. Efforts to curb the disease through conventional methods, including control of vectors and reservoirs, chemotherapy and chemoprophylaxis, enforcement of sanitation improvement as well as health education, have been applied every year, but plague cases and deaths continue to occur in the area to date. During the period April 1980 to December 1996, a total of 6599 cases with 580 (8.8%) deaths were recorded. Biological factors, such as the presence of suitable rodent reservoirs, efļ¬cient ļ¬ea vectors and plague bacillus, could be partly responsible for the long persistence and reccurence of the disease. Since such factors are also common in other plague foci where the disease has never been persistently recurrent, and where indigenous people are culturally different from those in Lushoto, it is assumed that socio-cultural factors play an important role as determinants of the disease in the latter district. This paper reports preliminary observations on socio-cultural, biological and environmental factors which are thought to be, at least partly, responsible for the long persistence and repeated outbreaks of plague in the district. These include traditional beliefs on the cause and health seeking behaviour for treatment of plague sleeping and food storage habits, large populations of rodents and ļ¬eas, and status of the immediate environment. Ā© 1997 Elsevier Science B.V
Observations on the endemicity of plague in Karatu and Ngorongoro, northern Tanzania
Tanzania health research bulletin, 2006, 8(1)Commensal and field rodents and wild small carnivores were live-trapped in five villages of Karatu district and
one settlement in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area in Ngorongoro district in Tanzania. Blood samples were taken and
serologically tested for plague, using the Blocking ELISA technique. Some domestic dogs and cats in the Karatu villages
were aseptically bled and similarly tested for plague. Fleas were collected from the examined animals and from randomly
selected residential houses. A total of 241 rodents, 1 Crocidura spp, 43 dogs, 12 cats and 4 slender mongooses were
involved in the survey. Of the rodents, 14.5% were infested with fleas, which comprised of Xenopsylla brasiliensis
(45.8%) and Dinopsyllus lypusus (54.2%), with an overall population density of 0.2 fleas/animal. Thirty one (72.1%) of
the dogs were infested with fleas, all of which were Ctenocephalides spp. Thirty five (63.3%) houses were infested with
fleas whose population was composed of Ctenocephalides spp, Pulex irritans, Tunga penetrans and Echinophaga gallinacea.
Infected rodents were found in all the villages while the infected dog was found at Rhotia-Kati. Nineteen (11%) of the
rodents and one (2%) dog harboured specific plague antibodies. It was broadly concluded that sylvatic plague was endemic
in Karatu district and Ngorongoro Conservation Area and that outbreaks of the disease can occur in the area any time if and
when relevant conditions become favourable. Prompt application of appropriate preventive and control measures and
survey for substantiating the status in the Lake Manyara National Park, which is adjacent to some of the infected villages,
are recommended
Observations on the endemicity of plague in Karatu and Ngorongoro, northern Tanzania
Tanzania health research bulletin, 2006, 8(1)Commensal and field rodents and wild small carnivores were live-trapped in five villages of Karatu district and
one settlement in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area in Ngorongoro district in Tanzania. Blood samples were taken and
serologically tested for plague, using the Blocking ELISA technique. Some domestic dogs and cats in the Karatu villages
were aseptically bled and similarly tested for plague. Fleas were collected from the examined animals and from randomly
selected residential houses. A total of 241 rodents, 1 Crocidura spp, 43 dogs, 12 cats and 4 slender mongooses were
involved in the survey. Of the rodents, 14.5% were infested with fleas, which comprised of Xenopsylla brasiliensis
(45.8%) and Dinopsyllus lypusus (54.2%), with an overall population density of 0.2 fleas/animal. Thirty one (72.1%) of
the dogs were infested with fleas, all of which were Ctenocephalides spp. Thirty five (63.3%) houses were infested with
fleas whose population was composed of Ctenocephalides spp, Pulex irritans, Tunga penetrans and Echinophaga gallinacea.
Infected rodents were found in all the villages while the infected dog was found at Rhotia-Kati. Nineteen (11%) of the
rodents and one (2%) dog harboured specific plague antibodies. It was broadly concluded that sylvatic plague was endemic
in Karatu district and Ngorongoro Conservation Area and that outbreaks of the disease can occur in the area any time if and
when relevant conditions become favourable. Prompt application of appropriate preventive and control measures and
survey for substantiating the status in the Lake Manyara National Park, which is adjacent to some of the infected villages,
are recommended