Towards improving control of zoonoses in West Africa

Abstract

In developed countries many classic zoonotic diseases such as anthrax, brucellosis and cysticercosis have largely been controlled through surveillance, meat-inspection, culling and compensation programmes. These measures are highly effective but are expensive to implement and maintain. In developing countries where funds are limited and infrastructures are largely inadequate, zoonoses represent a major threat to human health. The situation is exacerbated by the reliance of the majority of the population on keeping animals for subsistence, and by the rural to urban population drift which creates huge peri-urban areas, often without sufficient sewage disposal facilities, water supply or electricity. In addition the difficulties in monitoring the movement of people and livestock across borders mean that zoonoses should be considered in a sub-regional rather than a solely national context. To begin to address some of these issues, the British Council funded a Seminar on Tropical Zoonoses in Ghana in February 1999. This meeting brought together participants from the sub-region and also from Tanzania, Zambia and the UK.

One area where West Africa has made progress towards the control of zoonoses is the increased awareness that, to be effective, control requires multidisciplinary collaboration between veterinary, medical and other personnel. The Minister of Health for Ghana, initiated the Workshop proceedings with a directive ‘to identify and further enhance these collaborations’. The University of Ghana is already doing this by including veterinarians and workers in public health together on the same course. This has led to extremely positive interactions between the two Ministries and inclusion of veterinary officers in District Health Teams.

This special edition of Acta Tropica contains the papers that were presented at the Workshop. They include reviews, summarising the status of zoonoses in Burkina Faso, Togo, Nigeria and Ghana and also a series of short papers describing disease-specific studies. The papers extend over a wide range of disciplines and the authors include medics, veterinarians, scientists and other public health experts.