The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in close partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) concluded a training workshop on Event Mobile Application (EMA-i) to improve animal diseases real-time reporting, early warning and surveillance.

With funding support from United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under their Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) portfolio, the training was conducted from 24 – 28 February 2020 in Freetown and targeted 31 livestock and veterinary services officers from the national and district level who have been trained on the use of EMA-i to improve animal diseases data collection and real-time reporting in support of the national animal disease surveillance and early warning system, and have acquired skills to be competent users of EMA-i application.

The application enables frontline animal health officers to collect and transmit real-time geo-referenced information on animal diseases from the field using smart phones and or tablets. Using this technology, the reports are sent in real time to the Global Animal Disease Information System (EMPRES-i), a database developed by FAO and customized for countries use where the information is safely stored and processed for country users. The reports sent from the field are also accessible through a mapping component of the EMA- app, which allows users to visualize the location of disease events including epidemiological details. The disease events reports are sent and shared in real-time with decisions makers.

During official opening of the training workshop, Mrs. Nyabenyi Tito Tipo, the FAO Representative in Sierra Leone acknowledged the remarkable progress made by the country in disease surveillance and reporting. She stated that “good quality disease information and timely reporting is very important in order to understand the disease situation, support decision-making, prevent potential disease incursion and respond quickly to disease outbreaks.”  She emphasized that the training on the use of EMA-i technology in Sierra Leone was timely and that it will build capacity of the veterinary services in animal diseases reporting, early warning and surveillance.

Before piloting of this technology, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) with support from FAO had established an Integrated Animal Disease Surveillance and Reporting System (IADSR) in 2019. Using this system, District Livestock Officers submit weekly reports to the Epidemiology Unit of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry on occurrence of priority animal diseases and zoonoses via Google group. At the Unit, these data are collated, analyzed and disseminated weekly via bulletins to various policy makers and other stakeholders for prompt action. The Chief Veterinary Officer and Director of Livestock and Veterinary Services in the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry acknowledged that there were still challenges with real-time reporting and quality of data submitted to the Epidemiology unit. He stated with piloting of this technology, they will be able to address some of the current challenges with the system.

During the official opening ceremony for the training workshop, The Chief Veterinary Officer and Director of Livestock and Veterinary Services said that “We shall be able to make remarkable improvements in real-time disease reporting and communication between the national and district level i.e. from weekly to real-time when disease outbreaks occur.”

The use of this technology in disease surveillance and reporting will be piloted in all the 16 Districts of Sierra Leone for a period of six (6) months, before subsequent scale up and adoption. FAO provided 25 internet enabled android tablets and two (2) desktop computers to the Epidemiology Unit to facilitate use of EMA-i.  Through the EMA-i app, a rapid, real-time, efficient and highly confidential communication channel is guaranteed, allowing for an effective and more immediate action during occurrence of a disease outbreak from detection, reporting and response. This is why FAO is planning to extend the use of this tool to other regions and countries to enhance global capacities in disease reporting, surveillance and early warning. EMA-i has so far been  implemented in eight (8) countries; Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Lesotho, Mali, Uganda, Tanzania and Zimbabwe and will be further expanded to five countries this year.