Technology unites vets and medics in rabies fight
"Bringing the vets together with the medics, for a disease like rabies, is absolutely essential." (stock photo)
Mobile phone technology has brought together vets and medics in the fight against rabies in Tanzania. The award-winning project by Glasgow researchers has so far played a critical role in improving rabies control in large parts of the country.
The system was designed and implemented by researchers from the University of Glasgow. It is used to report real-time cases of rabid animal bites on humans, dogs showing signs of rabies and vaccinations used on people and animals.
It is now being used by more than 300 human healthcare and veterinary workers in southern Tanzania and follow up studies have shown rabies has been eliminated from Pemba Island. Elimination could soon be achieved in other parts of the country too.
Lead author Dr Katie Hampson said: "Bringing the vets together with the medics, for a disease like rabies, is absolutely essential…
"There are many different diseases – including rabies – which require medics, vets or environmental scientists all working together to control and hopefully eradicate them. Bridging those sectors sounds easy, but it has not proved to be in the past. Sharing tools, information and infrastructure, and then piecing it all together, is essential, and that’s what this mHealth system has done."
Around one in five people bitten by a rabid dog go on to develop rabies and, unless they are vaccinated immediately after the bite, they risk fatality.
Historically, Dr Hampson says it has been very difficult to measure rabies in Tanzania as records are often incomplete and hard to access. In low income countries, virus surveillance is often paper-based and therefore reporting can be limited and outdated.
The team from Glasgow chose to use mobile phone technology for this project, as most health and veterinary facilities in southern Tanzania have no internet access and unreliable power, whereas mobile phone network coverage is widespread.
Using their mobile phones, health and veterinary workers have made more than 30,000 real-time reports, which feed into a central database that can be accessed by field workers and central government.
The project has won a Guardian University Award in the international projects section and its implementation has been described in an article in press at PLOS Medicine.
With Strangles Awareness Week just around the corner (5-11 May), vets are being encouraged to share a survey about the disease with their horse-owning clients.
