Browsing by Author "Rweyemamu, Mark M."

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5

Genetic diversity and risk factors for the transmission of antimicrobial resistance across human, animals and environmental compartments in East Africa: a review
(Springer Nature, 2020-08-06) Katale, Bugwesa Z.; Misinzo, Gerald; Mshana, Stephen E.; Chiyangi, Harriet; Campino, Susana; Clark, Taane G.; Good, Liam; Rweyemamu, Mark M.; Matee, Mecky I.
Background: The emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) present a challenge to disease control in East Africa. Resistance to beta-lactams, which are by far the most used antibiotics worldwide and include the penicillins, cephalosporins, monobactams and carbapenems, is reducing options for effective control of both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. The World Health Organization, Food and Agricultural Organization and the World Organization for Animal Health have all advocated surveillance of AMR using an integrated One Health approach. Regional consortia also have strengthened collaboration to address the AMR problem through surveillance, training and research in a holistic and multisectoral approach. This review paper contains collective information on risk factors for transmission, clinical relevance and diversity of resistance genes relating to extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing (ESBL) and carbapenemase producing Enterobacteriaceae, and Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) across the human, animal and environmental compartments in East Africa. Main body: The review of the AMR literature (years 2001 to 2019) was performed using search engines such as PubMed, Scopus, Science Direct, Google and Web of Science. The search terms included ‘antimicrobial resistance and human-animal-environment’, ‘antimicrobial resistance, risk factors, genetic diversity, and human animal-environment’ combined with respective countries of East Africa. In general, the risk factors identified were associated with the transmission of AMR. The marked genetic diversity due to multiple sequence types among drug-resistant bacteria and their replicon plasmid types sourced from the animal, human and environment were reported. The main ESBL, MRSA and carbapenem related genes/plasmids were the bla CTX-Ms (45.7%), SCCmec type (27.3%) and IMP types (23.8%), respectively. Conclusion: The high diversity of the AMR genes suggests there may be multiple sources of resistance bacteria, or the possible exchange of strains or a flow of genes amongst different strains due to transfer by mobile genetic elements. Therefore, there should be harmonized One Health guidelines for the use of antibiotics, as well as regulations governing their importation and sale. Moreover, the trend of ESBLs, MRSA and carbapenem resistant (CAR) carriage rates is dynamic and are on rise over time period, posing a public health concern in East Africa. Collaborative surveillance of AMR in partnership with regional and external institutions using an integrated One Health approach is required for expert knowledge and technology transfer to facilitate information sharing for informed decision-making.
Seroprevalence and associated risk factors of chikungunya, dengue, and zika in eight districts in Tanzania
(Elsevier Ltd, 2021) Mwanyika, Gaspary O.; Sindato, Calvin; Rugarabamu, Sima; Rumisha, Susan F.; Karimuribo, Esron D.; Misinzo, Gerald; Rweyemamu, Mark M.; Hamid, Muzamil M. Abdel; Haider, Najmul; Vairo, Francesco; Kock, Richard; Mboera, Leonard E.G.
Background: This study was conducted to determine the seroprevalence and risk factors of chikungunya (CHIKV), dengue (DENV), and Zika (ZIKV) viruses in Tanzania. Methods: The study covered the districts of Buhigwe, Kalambo, Kilindi, Kinondoni, Kondoa, Kyela, Mvomero, and Ukerewe in Tanzania. Blood samples were collected from individuals recruited from house- holds and healthcare facilities. An ELISA was used to screen for immunoglobulin G antibodies against CHIKV, DENV, and ZIKV. Results: A total of 1818 participants (median age 34 years) were recruited. The overall CHIKV, DENV, and ZIKV seroprevalence rates were 28.0%, 16.1%, and 6.8%, respectively. CHIKV prevalence was highest in Buhigwe (46.8%), DENV in Kinondoni (43.8%), and ZIKV in Ukerewe (10.6%) and Mvomero (10.6%). Increas- ing age and frequent mosquito bites were significantly associated with CHIKV and DENV seropositivity ( P < 0.05). Having piped water or the presence of stagnant water around the home ( P < 0.01) were as- sociated with higher odds of DENV seropositivity. Fever was significantly associated with increased odds of CHIKV seropositivity ( P < 0.001). Visiting mines had higher odds of ZIKV seropositivity ( P < 0.05). Conclusions: These findings indicate that DENV, CHIKV, and ZIKV are circulating in diverse ecological zones of Tanzania. There is a need to strengthen the control of mosquito-borne viral diseases in Tanzania.
A socio-economic approach to one health policy research in Southern Africa
(2012-06) Lyamuya, Eligius; Rushton, Jonathan; Coker, Richard; Kock, Richard; Kayunze, Kim A.; Kiwara, Angwara D.; Kambarage, Dominic M.; Coker, Richard; Rweyemamu, Mark M.
One-health approaches have started being applied to health systems in some countries in controlling infectious diseases in order to reduce the burden of disease in humans, livestock and wild animals collaboratively. However, one wonders whether the problem of lingering and emerging zoonoses is more affected by health policies, low application of one-health approaches, or other factors. As part of efforts to answer this question, the Southern African Centre for Infectious Disease Surveillance (SACIDS) smart partnership of human health, animal health and socio-economic experts published, in April 2011, a conceptual framework to support One Health research for policy on emerging zoonoses. The main objective of this paper was to identify which factors really affect the burden of disease and how the burden could affect socio-economic well-being. Amongst other issues, the review of literature shows that the occurrence of infectious diseases in humans and animals is driven by many factors, the most important ones being the causative agents (viruses, bacteria, parasites, etc.) and the mediator conditions (social, cultural, economic or climatic) which facilitate the infection to occur and hold. Literature also shows that in many countries there is little collaboration between medical and veterinary services despite the shared underlying science and the increasing infectious disease threat. In view of these findings, a research to inform health policy must walk on two legs: a natural sciences leg and a social sciences one
A spatial analysis of Rift Valley Fever Virus seropositivity in domestic ruminants in Tanzania
(PLOS ONE, 2015-07-10) Sindato, Calvin; Pfeiffer, Dirk U.; Karimuribo, Esron D.; Mboera, Leonard E.G.; Rweyemamu, Mark M.; Paweska, Janusz T.
Rift Valley fever(RVF) is an acute arthropod-borne viral zoonotic disease primarily occurring in Africa.Since RVF-like disease was reported in Tanzaniain1930,outbreaks of the disease have been reported mainly from the eastern ecosystem of the Great Rift Valley. This cross-sectional study was carried out to describe the variation in RVF virus (RVFV) seropositivity in domestic ruminants between selected villages in the eastern and western Rift Valley ecosystems in Tanzania, and identify potential risk factors. Three study villages were purposively selected from each of the two Rift Valley ecosystems. Serum samples from randomly selected domestic ruminants (n=1,435) were tested for the presence of specific immunoglobulin G(IgG) and M(IgM) ,using RVF enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay methods .Mixed effects logistic regression modelling was used to investigate the association between potential risk factors and RVFV seropositivity. The overall RVFV seroprevalence (n=1,435) in domestic ruminants was 25.8% and species specific seroprevalence was 29.7%, 27.7% and 22.0% in sheep (n=148), cattle (n=756) and goats (n=531), respectively. The odds of seropositivity were significantly higher in animals sampled from the villages in the eastern than those in the western Rift Valley ecosystem (OR=1.88,CI: 1.41,2.51; p<0.001) , in animals sampled from villages with soils of good than those with soils of poor water holding capacity (OR=1.97; 95%CI:1.58,3.02;p<0.001), and in animals which had been introduced than in animals born within the herd (OR=5.08,CI:2.74, 9.44;p<0.001). Compared with animals aged 1–2 years, those aged 3 and 4–5 years had 3.40 (CI:2.49,4.64;p<0.001) and 3.31 (CI:2.27,4.82,p<0.001) times the odds of seropositivity. The findings confirm exposure to RVFV in all the study villages, but with a higher prevalence in the study villages from the eastern Rift Valley ecosystem.
Towards one health disease surveillance: the Southern African centre for infectious disease surveillance approach
(2012) Beda, Eric.; Karimuribo, Esron D.; Sayalel, Kuya; Short, Nick; Wambura, Philemon; Mboera, Leonard G.; Kusiluka, Lughano J. M.; Rweyemamu, Mark M.
Africa has the highest burden of infectious diseases in the world and yet the least capacity for its risk management. It has therefore become increasingly important to search for ‘fit-for- purpose’ approaches to infectious disease surveillance and thereby targeted disease control. The fact that the majority of human infectious diseases are originally of animal origin means we have to consider One Health (OH) approaches which require inter-sectoral collaboration for custom-made infectious disease surveillance in the endemic settings of Africa. A baseline survey was conducted to assess the current status and performance of human and animal health surveillance systems and subsequently a strategy towards OH surveillance system was developed. The strategy focused on assessing the combination of participatory epidemiological approaches and the deployment of mobile technologies to enhance the effectiveness of disease alerts and surveillance at the point of occurrence, which often lies in remote areas. We selected three study sites, namely the Ngorongoro, Kagera River basin and Zambezi River basin ecosystems. We have piloted and introduced the next-generation Android mobile phones running the EpiCollect application developed by Imperial College to aid geo-spatial and clinical data capture and transmission of this data from the field to the remote Information Technology (IT) servers at the research hubs for storage, analysis, feedback and reporting. We expect that the combination of participatory epidemiology and technology will significantly improve OH disease surveillance in southern Africa.