Critical Linkages Between Livestock Production, Livestock Trade and Potential Spread of Human African Trypanosomiasis in Uganda: Bioeconomic Herd Modeling and Livestock Trade Analysis

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Abstract

Background: Tsetse-transmitted human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) remains endemic in Uganda. The chronic form caused by Trypanosoma brucei gambiense (gHAT) is found in north-western Uganda, whereas the acute zoonotic form of the disease, caused by T. b. brucei rhodesiense (rHAT), occurs in the eastern region. Cattle is the major reservoir of rHAT in Uganda. These two forms of HAT are likely to converge resulting in a public health disaster. This study examines the intricate and intrinsic links between cattle herd dynamics, livestock trade and potential risk of spread of rHAT northwards.

Methods: A bio-economic cattle herd model was developed to simulate herd dynamics at the farm level. Semi-structured interviews ( n = 310), focus group discussions ( n = 9) and key informant interviews ( n = 9) were used to evaluate livestock markets ( n = 9) as part of the cattle supply chain analysis. The cattle market data was used for stochastic risk analysis.

Results: Cattle trade in eastern and northern Uganda is dominated by sale of draft and adult male cattle as well as exportation of young male cattle. The study found that the need to import draft cattle at the farm level was to cover deficits because of the herd structure, which is mostly geared towards animal traction. The importation and exportation of draft cattle and disposal of old adult male cattle formed the major basis of livestock movement and could result in the spread of rHAT northwards. The risk of rHAT infected cattle being introduced to northern Uganda from the eastern region via cattle trade was found to be high (i.e. probability of 1).

Conclusion: Through deterministic and stochastic modelling of cattle herd and cattle trade dynamics, this study identifies critical links between livestock production and trade as well as potential risk of rHAT spread in eastern and northern Uganda. The findings highlight the need for targeted and routine surveillance and control of zoonotic diseases such as rHAT.

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Human African trypanosomiasis.

Gerardo Priotto, Vincent Jamonneau, Giuliano Cecchi … (2017)

Human African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness) is a parasitic infection that almost invariably progresses to death unless treated. Human African trypanosomiasis caused devastating epidemics during the 20th century. Thanks to sustained and coordinated efforts over the past 15 years, the number of reported cases has fallen to an historically low level. Fewer than 3000 cases were reported in 2015, and the disease is targeted for elimination by WHO. Despite these recent successes, the disease is still endemic in parts of sub-Saharan Africa, where it is a considerable burden on rural communities, most notably in central Africa. Since patients are also reported from non-endemic countries, human African trypanosomiasis should be considered in differential diagnosis for travellers, tourists, migrants, and expatriates who have visited or lived in endemic areas. In the absence of a vaccine, disease control relies on case detection and treatment, and vector control. Available drugs are suboptimal, but ongoing clinical trials provide hope for safer and simpler treatments.

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The Atlas of human African trypanosomiasis: a contribution to global mapping of neglected tropical diseases

Pere Simarro, Giuliano Cecchi, Massimo Paone … (2010)

Background Following World Health Assembly resolutions 50.36 in 1997 and 56.7 in 2003, the World Health Organization (WHO) committed itself to supporting human African trypanosomiasis (HAT)-endemic countries in their efforts to remove the disease as a public health problem. Mapping the distribution of HAT in time and space has a pivotal role to play if this objective is to be met. For this reason WHO launched the HAT Atlas initiative, jointly implemented with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, in the framework of the Programme Against African Trypanosomosis. Results The distribution of HAT is presented for 23 out of 25 sub-Saharan countries having reported on the status of sleeping sickness in the period 2000 - 2009. For the two remaining countries, i.e. Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, data processing is ongoing. Reports by National Sleeping Sickness Control Programmes (NSSCPs), Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and Research Institutes were collated and the relevant epidemiological data were entered in a database, thus incorporating (i) the results of active screening of over 2.2 million people, and (ii) cases detected in health care facilities engaged in passive surveillance. A total of over 42 000 cases of HAT and 6 000 different localities were included in the database. Various sources of geographic coordinates were used to locate the villages of epidemiological interest. The resulting average mapping accuracy is estimated at 900 m. Conclusions Full involvement of NSSCPs, NGOs and Research Institutes in building the Atlas of HAT contributes to the efficiency of the mapping process and it assures both the quality of the collated information and the accuracy of the outputs. Although efforts are still needed to reduce the number of undetected and unreported cases, the comprehensive, village-level mapping of HAT control activities over a ten-year period ensures a detailed and reliable representation of the known geographic distribution of the disease. Not only does the Atlas serve research and advocacy, but, more importantly, it provides crucial evidence and a valuable tool for making informed decisions to plan and monitor the control of sleeping sickness.

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Epidemiology of human African trypanosomiasis

José Franco, Pere Simarro, Abdoulaye Diarra … (2014)

Human African trypanosomiasis (HAT), or sleeping sickness, is caused by Trypanosoma brucei gambiense, which is a chronic form of the disease present in western and central Africa, and by Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense, which is an acute disease located in eastern and southern Africa. The rhodesiense form is a zoonosis, with the occasional infection of humans, but in the gambiense form, the human being is regarded as the main reservoir that plays a key role in the transmission cycle of the disease. The gambiense form currently assumes that 98% of the cases are declared; the Democratic Republic of the Congo is the most affected country, with more than 75% of the gambiense cases declared. The epidemiology of the disease is mediated by the interaction of the parasite (trypanosome) with the vectors (tsetse flies), as well as with the human and animal hosts within a particular environment. Related to these interactions, the disease is confined in spatially limited areas called “foci”, which are located in Sub-Saharan Africa, mainly in remote rural areas. The risk of contracting HAT is, therefore, determined by the possibility of contact of a human being with an infected tsetse fly. Epidemics of HAT were described at the beginning of the 20th century; intensive activities have been set up to confront the disease, and it was under control in the 1960s, with fewer than 5,000 cases reported in the whole continent. The disease resurged at the end of the 1990s, but renewed efforts from endemic countries, cooperation agencies, and nongovernmental organizations led by the World Health Organization succeeded to raise awareness and resources, while reinforcing national programs, reversing the trend of the cases reported, and bringing the disease under control again. In this context, sustainable elimination of the gambiense HAT, defined as the interruption of the transmission of the disease, was considered as a feasible target for 2030. Since rhodesiense HAT is a zoonosis, where the animal reservoir plays a key role, the interruption of the disease’s transmission is not deemed feasible.

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Author and article information

Contributors

Walter O. Okello: URI : http://loop.frontiersin.org/people/1099642/overview

Ewan T. MacLeod: URI : http://loop.frontiersin.org/people/224586/overview

Dennis Muhanguzi: URI : http://loop.frontiersin.org/people/755111/overview

Alexandra P. Shaw: URI : http://loop.frontiersin.org/people/1304261/overview

Susan C. Welburn: URI : http://loop.frontiersin.org/people/384268/overview

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Front Vet Sci

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Front Vet Sci

Journal ID (publisher-id): Front. Vet. Sci.

Title: Frontiers in Veterinary Science

Publisher: Frontiers Media S.A.

ISSN (Electronic): 2297-1769

Publication date (Electronic): 26 July 2021

Publication date Collection: 2021

Volume: 8

Electronic Location Identifier: 611141

Affiliations

[1] ¹Infection Medicine, Biomedical Sciences, Edinburgh Medical School, College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, University of Edinburgh , Edinburgh, United Kingdom

[2] ²Land & Water Business Unit, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) , Canberra, ACT, Australia

[3] ³Department of Biomolecular and Biolaboratory Sciences, School of Biosecurity, Biotechnical and Laboratory Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine Animal Resources and Biosecurity, Makerere University , Kampala, Uganda

[4] ⁴The Coordinating Office for Control of Trypanosomiasis in Uganda (COCTU) , Kampala, Uganda

[5] ⁵Avia-GIS , Zoersel, Belgium

[6] ⁶Zhejiang University-University of Edinburgh Institute, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Zhejiang University , Haining, China

Author notes

Edited by: Isabelle Baltenweck, International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Kenya

Reviewed by: Harry P. De Koning, University of Glasgow, United Kingdom; Harry Noyes, University of Liverpool, United Kingdom; Jandouwe Villinger, International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE), Kenya

*Correspondence: Walter O. Okello walterokell@ 123456gmail.com

This article was submitted to Veterinary Humanities and Social Sciences, a section of the journal Frontiers in Veterinary Science

Article

DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2021.611141

PMC ID: 8350160

PubMed ID: 34381829

SO-VID: 83ee0c95-af60-4c9f-9fa4-8be2a921a914

License:

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

History

Date received : 28 September 2020

Date accepted : 28 June 2021

Page count

Figures: 5, Tables: 4, Equations: 1, References: 67, Pages: 13, Words: 8920

Funding

Funded by: Seventh Framework Programme 10.13039/100011102

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Critical Linkages Between Livestock Production, Livestock Trade and Potential Spread of Human African Trypanosomiasis in Uganda: Bioeconomic Herd Modeling and Livestock Trade Analysis

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Human African trypanosomiasis.

The Atlas of human African trypanosomiasis: a contribution to global mapping of neglected tropical diseases

Epidemiology of human African trypanosomiasis

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