Development of Dog Vaccination Strategies to Maintain Herd Immunity against Rabies
Ahmed Lugelo,
Katie Hampson,
Elaine A. Ferguson,
Anna Czupryna,
Machunde Bigambo,
Christian Tetteh Duamor,
Rudovick Kazwala,
Paul C. D. Johnson,
Felix Lankester
Affiliations
Ahmed Lugelo
Environmental Health and Ecological Sciences Department, Ifakara Health Institute, Dar es Salaam P.O. Box 78373, Tanzania
Katie Hampson
Boyd Orr Centre for Population and Ecosystem Health, Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, University of Glasgow, Graham Kerr Building, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK
Elaine A. Ferguson
Boyd Orr Centre for Population and Ecosystem Health, Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, University of Glasgow, Graham Kerr Building, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK
Anna Czupryna
Boyd Orr Centre for Population and Ecosystem Health, Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, University of Glasgow, Graham Kerr Building, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK
Machunde Bigambo
Global Animal Health Tanzania, Arusha 1642, Tanzania
Christian Tetteh Duamor
Department of Global Health, Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology, Arusha P.O. Box 447, Tanzania
Rudovick Kazwala
Department of Veterinary Medicine and Public Health, Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro P.O. Box 3105, Tanzania
Paul C. D. Johnson
Boyd Orr Centre for Population and Ecosystem Health, Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, University of Glasgow, Graham Kerr Building, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK
Felix Lankester
Global Animal Health Tanzania, Arusha 1642, Tanzania
Human rabies can be prevented through mass dog vaccination campaigns; however, in rabies endemic countries, pulsed central point campaigns do not always achieve the recommended coverage of 70%. This study describes the development of a novel approach to sustain high coverage based on decentralized and continuous vaccination delivery. A rabies vaccination campaign was conducted across 12 wards in the Mara region, Tanzania to test this approach. Household surveys were used to obtain data on vaccination coverage as well as factors influencing dog vaccination. A total 17,571 dogs were vaccinated, 2654 using routine central point delivery and 14,917 dogs using one of three strategies of decentralized continuous vaccination. One month after the first vaccination campaign, coverage in areas receiving decentralized vaccinations was higher (64.1, 95% Confidence Intervals (CIs) 62.1–66%) than in areas receiving pulsed vaccinations (35.9%, 95% CIs 32.6–39.5%). Follow-up surveys 10 months later showed that vaccination coverage in areas receiving decentralized vaccinations remained on average over 60% (60.7%, 95% CIs 58.5–62.8%) and much higher than in villages receiving pulsed vaccinations where coverage was on average 32.1% (95% CIs 28.8–35.6%). We conclude that decentralized continuous dog vaccination strategies have the potential to improve vaccination coverage and maintain herd immunity against rabies.
