Assenga Justine - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Assenga Justine

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2019

Approximately 1500 people die annually due to rabies in the United Republic of Tanzania. Moshi, i... more Approximately 1500 people die annually due to rabies in the United Republic of Tanzania. Moshi, in the Kilimanjaro Region, reported sporadic cases of human rabies between 2017 and 2018. In response and following a One Health approach, we implemented surveillance, monitoring, as well as a mass vaccinations of domestic pets concurrently in >150 villages, achieving a 74.5% vaccination coverage (n = 29, 885 dogs and cats) by September 2018. As of April 2019, no single human or animal case has been recorded. We have observed a disparity between awareness and knowledge levels of community members on rabies epidemiology. Self-adherence to protective rabies vaccination in animals was poor due to the challenges of costs and distances to vaccination centers, among others. Incidence of dog bites was high and only a fraction (65%) of dog bite victims (humans) received post-exposure prophylaxis. A high proportion of unvaccinated dogs and cats and the relative intense interactions with wild do...

Journal of Public Health in Africa

After-action review uses experiences gained from past events to adopt best practices, thereby imp... more After-action review uses experiences gained from past events to adopt best practices, thereby improving future interventions. In December 2016 and late 2018, the government of Tanzania with support from partners responded to anthrax and rabies outbreaks in Arusha and Morogoro regions respectively. The One Health Coordination Desk (OHCD) of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) later coordinated after-action reviews to review the multi-sectoral preparedness and response to the outbreaks. To establish and describe actions undertaken by the multi-sectoral investigation and response teams during planning and deployment, execution of field activities, and outbreak investigation and response, system best practices and deficiencies. These were cross-sectional surveys. Semi-structured, open and closed-ended questionnaire and focus group discussions were administered to collect information from responders at the national and subnational levels. It was found that the surveillance and response sys...

BMC Veterinary Research, 2015

Background: Brucellosis is a zoonosis of public health importance worldwide. In Tanzania, the dis... more Background: Brucellosis is a zoonosis of public health importance worldwide. In Tanzania, the disease is underreported due to insufficient awareness, inadequate diagnostic protocols, including lack of appropriate reagents for diagnosis. Livestock and wildlife are considered potential sources of infection to humans; however, the role played by these carriers in the epidemiology of the disease in the ecosystems in Tanzania is not fully understood. The objective of this study was to establish the prevalence of anti-Brucella antibodies in humans, wildlife and livestock; and molecular prevalence of Brucella spp in cattle and goats in the Katavi-Rukwa ecosystem. Results: Anti-Brucella antibodies were detected in humans at 0.6 % (95 % CI: 0.1, 2.1 %); cattle at 6.8 % (95 % CI: 5.4, 8.5 %), goats at 1.6 % (95 % CI: 0.4, 4.1 %) and buffaloes at 7.9 % (95 % CI: 1.7, 21.4 %). One of the two sampled lions tested positive. Cattle had a significantly higher prevalence of anti-Brucella antibodies as compared to goats (P < 0.05). A significantly higher seroprevalence was found in female than in male cattle and in adult than in young cattle (P < 0.05). There was an agreement of 95 and 89 % in cattle and goats, respectively, for the Rose Bengal plate Test (RBPT) and Competitive Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (c-ELISA) in detecting Brucella infection. Eight (3.5 %) out of 231 milk samples tested were positive for Brucella spp on Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), and Brucella abortus biovar 1 was detected in cattle milk. However, no Brucella spp were detected in goat milk. Conclusion: This study has shown the presence of anti-Brucella antibodies in humans, livestock, and wildlife in the Katavi-Rukwa ecosystem. Transmission of the infection between wildlife, livestock and humans is likely to continue due to increasing human activities in the human wildlife interface. This information is an important contribution to public health policy development in the human wildlife interface of the Katavi-Rukwa ecosystem.

Primers used in this study. (DOC 26Â kb)

PCR products amplified from Brucella abortus DNA extracted from cattle and goats milk. Lane M and... more PCR products amplified from Brucella abortus DNA extracted from cattle and goats milk. Lane M and 10 are 50–2000 bp molecular weight marker, Lane 1 Positive control B. abortus, lane 2: Positive control B. melitensis, Lane 3 is negative control, lane 4–9 are representative B. abortus biovar 1positive samples. (TIFF 102 kb)

Clinical Microbiology and Infection, 2009

Coxiella burnetii is the causative agent of Q-fever, a worldwide zoonosis. C. burnetii can induce... more Coxiella burnetii is the causative agent of Q-fever, a worldwide zoonosis. C. burnetii can induce abortion, stillbirth or delivery of weak lambs, generating non-negligible economic losses. At present, no serological tests are available to ascertain a Qfever abortion. Western blot analysis of C. burnetii lysate indicated that a 28-kDa protein was recognized by sera of goats that have aborted (not shown). As this protein could correspond to AdaA, which has previously been shown to be associated with virulence of Q-fever in human [1], the present study was undertaken to determine whether AdaA protein could be a good marker for the detection of Q-fever abortion. The adaA gene (CBU0952) of caprine (CbC1, CbC2, CbC5), ovine (CbO1, CbO184), bovine (CbB1, CbB2, CbB3, CbB4, CbB5, CbB7) and Nine Mile strains of C. burnetii was amplified by PCR using two primers containing the restriction site BamHI or NotI: AdaA-1 (5¢-CGCGGGATCC GCCTTCGCTGAAAATCGC-3¢) and AdaA-2 (5¢-ATTTGCGGCCGCTTTATTTAAAAAAGTCG CCAC-3¢). The amplification reaction was performed in 25 lL containing 10 pmol of each primer, 0.2 mM dNTP Mix (Invitrogen, Cergy Pontoise, France), 3 mM MgCl 2 , 1 • PCR buffer, 1.25 U of Platinum Taq DNA polymerase (Invitrogen), and 100 ng of DNA. The adaA gene from the CbC1 strain was cloned into the expression vector pET30(a+) (Novagen, Darmstadt, Germany), and expressed in Escherichia coli BL21. The His-tagged protein was then purified in denaturant conditions (8 M urea, 0.1 M NaH 2 PO 4 , 0.01 M Tris-HCl, pH 8) by affinity chromatography using the QIAexpress Type ATG kit (Qiagen,

BMC Infectious Diseases, 2016

International Journal of Infectious Diseases, 2014

Background: Leptospirosis is a worldwide zoonotic disease and serious underreported public health... more Background: Leptospirosis is a worldwide zoonotic disease and serious underreported public health problem. In Katavi humans, livestock and wildlife live in close proximity which exposes them to a number of zoonotic infections Methods & Materials: A cross sectional epidemiological survey was carried out in Katavi region, Tanzania to determine the seroprevalence of Leptospira spp infection in humans, domestic and wild animals. A total of 1351 domestic ruminants were randomly selected from 138 Agro-pastoral households. Opportunistic sampling of wild animals was also carried out. Blood samples was collected from jugular veins of apparently healthy cattle (n = 1,103), goats (n = 248) and, immobilized buffaloes (n = 38), zebra (n = 2) and lions (n = 2). Sera was eluted and tested for leptospira spp using Microscopic Agglutination Test (MAT). Laboratory testing was performed for antibodies against live cultures of six serovars belonging to the species Leptospira interrogans. Theseserovars includes: sokoine, lora, kenya, hebdomadis, grippotyphosa and hardjo. MAT titre ≥ 1:160 was considered positive. Results: Preliminary results show the overall seroprevalence of 26.35% and 28.57% in domestic animals and wildlife, respectively. Whereas specific prevalence was 30.37% cattle, 8.47% goats, 28.95% buffaloes and 50% lions. Six serovars of Leptospira Interrogans were detected in cattle as follow: hardjo (17.6%), hebdomadis (7.7%), grippotyphosa (4.8%), sokoine (4.7%) and lora (0.82%). While in goat the prevalence was sokoine (3.2%), hardjo (2.8%), grippotyphosa (1.6%), hebdomadis (0.8%) and lora (0.4%). In buffaloes the prevalence were hardjo (7.89%), hebdomadis (7.89%) sokoine (5.26%), lora (5.26%) and grippotyphosa (5.26%). In lion serovars: hardjo (50%) and grippotyphosa (50%) were detected. Mixed infection was observed as follows:-5.71% in cattle and 0.81% in goats. Conclusion: These results demonstrated high prevalence of leptospira infection both in livestock and wildlife species in Katavi. This is probably the first report of leptospirosis infection in Katavi ecosystem and only report of the disease in goats and wildlife hosts in the country. These findings suggest that leptospira is a serious public and animal health problem in the Katavi and therefore highlight the urgent need to increase awareness among potential stake holders so as to be able to reduce the number of current infections and also prevent further spread.

PLoS neglected tropical diseases, 2015

Leptospirosis is a worldwide zoonotic disease and a serious, under-reported public health problem... more Leptospirosis is a worldwide zoonotic disease and a serious, under-reported public health problem, particularly in rural areas of Tanzania. In the Katavi-Rukwa ecosystem, humans, livestock and wildlife live in close proximity, which exposes them to the risk of a number of zoonotic infectious diseases, including leptospirosis. A cross-sectional epidemiological study was carried out in the Katavi region, South-west Tanzania, to determine the seroprevalence of Leptospira spp in humans, domestic ruminants and wildlife. Blood samples were collected from humans (n = 267), cattle (n = 1,103), goats (n = 248), buffaloes (n = 38), zebra (n = 2), lions (n = 2), rodents (n = 207) and shrews (n = 11). Decanted sera were tested using the Microscopic Agglutination Test (MAT) for antibodies against six live serogroups belonging to the Leptospira spp, with a cutoff point of ≥ 1:160. The prevalence of leptospiral antibodies was 29.96% in humans, 30.37% in cattle, 8.47% in goats, 28.95% in buffaloes,...

Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease

Tropical medicine and infectious disease, 2017

International rabies networks have been formed in many of the canine-rabies endemic regions aroun... more International rabies networks have been formed in many of the canine-rabies endemic regions around the world to create unified and directed regional approaches towards elimination. The aim of the first sub-regional Eastern Africa rabies network meeting, which included Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Uganda, was to discuss how individual country strategies could be coordinated to address the unique challenges that are faced within the network. The Stepwise Approach towards Rabies Elimination and the Global Dog Rabies Elimination Pathway tool were used to stimulate discussion and planning to achieve the elimination of canine-mediated human rabies by 2030. Our analysis estimated a total dog population of 18.3 million dogs in the Eastern Africa region. The current dog vaccination coverage was estimated to be approximately 5% (915,000 dogs), with an estimated 4910 vaccinators available. Assuming that every vaccinator performs rabies vaccination, this equated to each vaccinator cur...