The 2024 Summer School and the International Cultural Boma and AFROHUN Showcase was held on June 20^th, 2024, at the Ruth Keeslings Centre, College of Veterinary Medicine, Animal Resources, and Biosecurity, and for the first time involved CoVAB students.

The Boma was the final event of this year’s CoVAB-Mississippi State University’s (MSU) Tropical Veterinary Medicine and One Health Study Abroad program which started on May 31, 2024. The study abroad course focuses on animal production and health management, conservation medicine, aquatic health, wildlife health, public health, food safety, and security, as well as inculcating One Health principles while suffusing multicultural experiences.

During the presentations, the participants expressed what they enjoyed most while on the program and this included observing the human-wildlife interactions, working on wildlife and the identified difference between the US and Uganda, the animal welfare champion, as well as having Ugandan students included on the program.

The Principal, Prof. Frank Nobert Mwiine officiated at the event characterized by sharing the student’s experiences through presentations made before academicians, researchers, and students.  In his remarks, he said the Boma was a great avenue for sharing information and learning from each other drawing from the experiences of the students while out in the community and the wild. Prof. Mwiine commended Mississippi State University for the long relationship they have had with CoVAB and appreciated the inclusion of the Uganda students into the program. He expressed optimism that the summer school will grow into problem-solving partnerships in research, training, and community development.

During the three weeks excursions in Uganda, participating students from Mississippi State University together with their counterparts from CoVAB engaged in experiential field trips with hands-on experience at the interfaces between animals, humans, and the environment.

The Team from Mississippi University appreciated CoVAB for the lead role in organizing the Summer School that brought the students into contact with new areas with most of them being in Africa for the first time.  He said the summer school was opening up opportunities for further collaboration in areas like student exchange programs as well as graduate research.  It was a great experience for the students to move out of their area to the unknown and the exposure left lifelong in print on the student’s academic, practice, and outlook towards life, said the representative of Prof. Stephen Reichley, the team leader.

Dr. Celsus Sente the Summer School coordinator and lecturer in the Department of Wildlife and Aquatic Resources (WAAR) said the three-week expedition was a great field experiential learning opportunity using one health approach.  Students went to different places including Gaba Fish Landing Site, the Murchison conservation area, Mbarara Abattoir where they interacted with the meat inspectors, Kibaale conservation area where they observed wildlife practical activities like birds, undertook activities involving cattle, and goats as well as the feel of the interface between the environment, humans, and animal health, the one health approach at the fishing villages there.

The Boma as a concept in an African context means a meeting that allows learning and a two-way exchange of information between elders and youngsters. African culture involves the transfer of wisdom and knowledge from wise, knowledgeable, and highly experienced elders to the young who are mentored into responsible community members. The concept was therefore used to allow the opportunity to share knowledge from all stakeholders as experienced in the course of learning.

The eRabies project was launched in March 2023 at the Centre for Biosecurity and Global Health, Makerere University. To date, a lot has been realized through several stakeholders working together toward the global goal of eliminating dog-mediated rabies by 2030.

This project is a collaboration between Makerere University‘s College of Veterinary Medicine, Animal Resources and Biosecurity, and the Universities of Zurich and Bern, and funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation.

The four-year intervention through its seven work streams was initially implemented in the Districts of Kampala, Soroti, and Kyegegwa and has stretched to include Arua, courtesy of other stakeholders including the NGO Mission Rabies that came on board along the way.

By the time of the launch, the stakeholders involved included Makerere University College of Veterinary Medicine, Animal Resources and Biosecurity (CoVAB), School of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, and the Infectious Diseases Institute (IDI), working in collaboration with the Universities of Bern and Zurich from Switzerland.

According to Prof. Sonja Hartnack, from the Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich, the project has addressed several work packages in addition to the initial Surveillance systems and integrated dog bite case management. During a project brief with staff at the College of Veterinary Medicine, Animal Resources and Biosecurity recently, it was revealed that the four-year project has made great strides as evidenced by the outcomes of several workshops conducted.

Prof. Sonja Hartnack said further to efforts towards the electronic surveillance of dog bites which started with the launch workshop held in August 2023, another workshop was held in Arua on May 2-3, 2024 for the pilot of the REACT App, a tool created by CDC and Mission Rabies for Integrated Bite Case Management. REACT is the abbreviation for Rabies Exposure Assessment & Contact Tracing App. The workshop brought together stakeholders from both animal and human health sectors, drawn from the district to national levels.  During the workshop, there were in-depth discussions regarding the current rabies surveillance system across the four target districts in Uganda.  The meeting explored how the REACT App can enhance the integrated bite case management system and data management process in rabies.

Prof. Sonja Hartnack who was in the company of CoVAB’s Terrence Odoch and Prof. Clovice Kankya said the pilot was to focus on integrated bite case management. This is the very first part which is still ongoing and there were concrete follow-up plans to try and foster this integrated bite case management. The Data to be collected was from both the point of view of the human-dog bite victim, but also captures whether the dog was vaccinated, provoked, killed, and a sample taken, all adding up in a true multi-sectoral and one health approach, she observed.

For the second work package which is about community engagement for rabies vaccination and dog bite prevention, she said there was already one Master’s student thesis submitted following both a qualitative and quantitative approach, and currently the student was finalizing the manuscript. Similarly, a paper on the Barriers to Vaccination at the community level and responsible dog ownership on the perceptions of dog owners was also written.

The other studies she said, focused on the identification of one strategy through a sensitization campaign.  This would include many respects including mobilizing dog owners to bring their dogs for mass vaccination on selected days and places. Such places like Schools, she said, would enable educating the children.  The other option would be conducting mass vaccination campaigns integrated with livestock activities whereby the communities will be asked to come with their dogs close to a point in the farm or to organize jointly with the human health activities.

A consortium of Seven Sub-Saharan countries is implementing a 5-year intervention aimed at building the capacity of improved, sustainable, and locally–led management of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs).

AMR is a public health problem that poses the largest threat to human health, causes death, and threatens economies especially those of developing countries in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

In Uganda, the project is implemented by Makerere University in the College of Health Sciences (CHS) and the College of Veterinary Medicine, Animal Resources and Biosecurity (CoVAB).  Prof. Dr. Damalie Nakanjako, the Principal CHS, and CoVAB’s Assoc. Prof. Julius Okuni are the Principal investigators.

The other sub-Saharan African states in the consortium include Senegal, Ghana, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, and Sudan, while the other participants like Leipzig University are drawn from Germany.

At the project kickoff event held at Protea Hotel in Entebbe on Monday 12^th May 2024 attended by all implementing partners, it was explained that the five-year project will investigate and sustainably develop the local capacity to identify and intervene with a diverse range of biomedical and sociocultural factors impacting human, animal, and environmental health in sub-Saharan African settings to better control AMR and NTDs.

Through a One Health Approach, the project will work with several stakeholders including Behavior scientists, Data scientists, veterinarians, Human health workers, and policymakers in developing the capacity of anti-microbial stewardship in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The project’s main tasks will include screening of AMR in humans, livestock, and poultry using surveillance and genetic mapping; investigating the relationship between helminthic infection and drug resistance bacteria to better understand the co-infection between pathogens; developing capacities for point of need diagnostics on AMR and NTDs using mobile tests for field use; identifying any changes in antimicrobial use and AMR incidences; controlling communicable disease transmission and building capacity for sustainable leadership.

The kickoff meeting was addressed by stakeholders from different sectors who made proposals aimed at ensuring a successful project implementation. Hon. Dr. Charles Ayume, the Chair of the parliamentary health committee, while addressing the forum urged the implementers to consider involving the political wings of the respective countries and to ensure that the politicians get to appreciate the concerns on Anti-Microbial Resistance and the Neglected Tropical Diseases.   He said that in the case of Uganda, the process of the formation of the Parliamentary Forum on AMR was in the initial stages and observed that several politicians were not well informed about the challenges of AMR.  He said bringing the politicians on board would help the project implementers and stakeholders lobby for financial allocations towards AMR or else refer to it as unfunded priorities because they do not appreciate its magnitude. Dr. Ayume regretted noting that although innovations were game changers, Research and development were underfunded and mostly anchored in the hands of the donors.  He said regarding the success of the project, research was important because of the need to domesticate AMR, by taking it down lower to the communities.

Dr. Ayume said he was cognizant of the fact that there was a lot to do citing the example of the poor state of abattoirs regarding lack of adherence to public health regulations, poor sanitation as well and non-adherence to public health regulations. Legislation is important because several laws like the Public Health Act although amended do not cover AMR, he observed. He cited the recently enacted Animal Feeds Bill, as one example through which the Government can be held accountable.  He expressed commitment to further spread the AMR message through the Parliamentary Committees of Health from Africa, where he is a member.  For most of the issues that affect the region, he said there was a need to get together, and that this can be a way of domestication of AMR.

The Deputy Principal, CoVAB, Prof James Acai – Okwee who spoke on behalf of the Principal Prof. Frank Nobert Mwiine acknowledged and welcomed the partners from other countries and the German Federal Ministry of Education for the project support. He said Makerere University aspires to translate into a research-led institution including research in AMR.  He explained that there was a significant animal factor in AMR, where infection in animals will always be shared in the human population because of the extensive microbial use in animal production.  Anti-microbial use is becoming the normal practice in production and therefore 75% of the infections originate from the animals that’s why we appreciate the one health approach in addressing AMR, the environment, food production, and public health he said, while appreciating the need for a multi-sectoral approach in addressing the challenge at hand. He expressed the colleges’ commitment and readiness to work with the project team led by Assoc. Prof. Julius Okuni.

Other presenters at the meeting included a representative of the Director General of Health Services, the Ministry of Health, and the Ministry of Water and Environment, among others.

Later on Wednesday 15^th May 2024, the project team visited the College of Veterinary Medicine, Animal Resources, and Biosecurity where they interacted with the leadership and staff and took a guided tour of some of the laboratories.