In low-income countries (LICs), patterns of livestock diseases and antimicrobial use (AMU) are largely unknown, and there are few high-quality laboratory facilities. Robust and actor-centred surveillance systems are needed and surveillance of the dynamics leading to antimicrobial resistance (AMR) should precede more advanced systems.
Ongoing project
The project is designed to provide proof of concept, applying a framework for surveillance of: AMU, diseases that trigger AMU and perceived problems with AMR, in East African poultry production systems. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) will be coupled with veterinary epidemiology and social science methods. The originality lies in using frontline technology particularly suited for challenges in resource-poor settings. The overall objective is to provide an ICT framework for monitoring and control of AMU and AMR in livestock in LICs. The project will assess if veterinary “telemedicine” coupled with ICT systems can change AMU. Baseline data on AMU practices and actors involved will be collected, followed by a Knowledge-Attitudes-Practices study. A platform to register drug purchases and a database to monitor drug sales will be developed along with a mobile application for delivery of animal health advice and information about AMR. The ICT framework will be pilot-tested in selected poultry production systems in Kenya and Uganda. The framework can be expanded in the future to allow inclusion of diagnostic tools, but the initial focus is on clinical diagnosis based on tele-consultation and evidence-based therapeutic strategies.
Project partners
- Susanna Sternberg Lewerin, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Sweden (Coordinator)
- Florence Mutua, International Livestock Research Institute, Kenya
- Lawrence Mugisha, Makerere University, Uganda
- Joshua Onono, University of Nairobi, Kenya
