During 2016, Georgia reported the first occurrences ever of two transboundary animal diseases: peste des petits rumiants (PPR) in small ruminants, and lumpy skin disease (LSD) in cattle. In addition, Georgia is currently embarked in the progressive eradication of foot and mouth disease (FMD). Sheep and goat pox are also a threat to Georgia. Given the difficult access to ruminant populations, due to the remoteness of herds and flocks and the nomadic nature of production systems, there is a need to reinforce surveillance of those diseases by engaging with the farming communities. Participatory disease surveillance was the obvious solution.
Participatory disease surveillance (PDS) is a form of active surveillance in which a search for a disease syndrome is conducted by specifically trained veterinary staff to explore the local knowledge about a disease to improve the understanding of the disease situation and/or detect outbreaks. This is usually done by conducting group interviews with livestock keepers at village or community level, together with observation of flocks/herds, examination of clinical cases, and investigation of any suspected cases of the disease of interest. It can also be carried out at livestock markets or other places where livestock keepers come together. It is a very powerful tool for investigating the spread of diseases in a population and for detecting active outbreaks in order to focus vaccination.
A training program has been planned and delivered by Jeff Mariner, from Tufts University, USA, and coordinator of the Participatory Epidemiology Network for Animal and Public Health (PENAPH). The training consists of three steps:
- 5-day Intro Training to introduce participants (10) to the practice of PE (September 2017, Akhaltsikhe).
- 4.5-day Refresher Training for participants (10) share their experience and to plan future implementation of participatory epidemiological activities (December 2017, Televi).
- 2-week field assessment (to be conducted in 2018).
The training covered the following techniques: preparation and planning of assessments, development of checklists for semi-structured interviews (SSI), leading SSI, ranking and scoring techniques, timelines and seasonal calendars, direct observation and transect walks, visualization techniques, principles of triangulation, etc. The training emphasizes field practice and 5 days of the training courses were spent conducting participatory assessments with livestock owners in the villages.
A total of ten veterinary personnel from the field as well as the central office were trained. Teams will be established under the auspices of the Epidemiology Unit and equipped with a rapid test kits for PPR (provided by the project) to allow accurate results at animal-side within a few minutes. The PDS teams will aim to conduct village investigations prioritizing highland grazing areas, which pose the highest risk for multiple disease hazards due to the mixing of diverse populations from distant locations (including neighboring countries)
In addition, a ruminant surveillance system, which integrates PDS and current on-going surveillance activities has been developed as part of the project and is currently being finalized. Stakeholders were asked to define the objectives of ruminant surveillance in Georgia and then activities were balanced to meet the needs of the objectives. Georgia has a strong set of laboratory-based surveillance activities targeted to specific diseases. The integrated system seeks to capture synergies across disease programs and improve the timeliness, flexibility and sensitivity through the use of active outreach and participatory methods.
