Background
Khwisero District Veterinary Office continues to enhance its outreach in cross-platform and multidisciplinary efforts for improved Veterinary Public health and Clinical service delivery. it will publish a regular quarterly electronic Newsletter on a list-serve basis temporarily,(as the website is under construction) to keep a regional and global up-date with developments in veterinary practice and other news and features that might benefit to global communities in the veterinary industry.
In this publication we focus on Zoonosis by outlining the Challenges, Successes and possible improvements that can be achieved with coordinated collaborative linkages between mainstream government departments, paraprofessionals and research institutes
Progress
Disease control: Pests and Vectors can be effectively managed by establishment of community dips.Rehabilitation of community dips can enhance effective disease control.
Epidemiology: An Epidemio-surveillance system (ESS) has been established enhancing detection and reporting of notifiable diseases in partnership with paraprofessionals.
Phytosanitary department: The Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures according to World Trade Organization have been implemented in order to protect human and animal health. Meat inspectorate services have improved consumption leading to a 75% revenue increment with a 27% decline in condemnation.
Collaborative Linkages: Establishment of Khwisero Animal /Public Health Surveillance Network (KAHSN) to share information across districts and provinces for coordinated human/animal health databases for zoonotic infections.
Challenges: Knowledge gap on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS), legislation and regularization of private practitioners combined with imprudent drug dispensation has a significant negative impact on clinical services (67%). Workforce deprivation and Staff demotivation can lead to suboptimal discharge of duties at 30% (p<0.001). Insufficient funding (-60%) continues to be a major a contributor to poor service delivery.
Possibilities: New approaches for the efficient and cost-effective delivery of reliable and accurate information to users in rural areas are required. Staff recruitment, training and motivation will foster service delivery. Establishment of regional laboratories to provide accurate diagnosis is essential for field research. A requisite combination of epidemiological and economic tools must be underpinned by detailed knowledge of livestock disease patterns for public-policy formulations in effective Veterinary Public health systems.
