Rift Valley Fever Disease Surveillance and Control Strategies in Marigat Sub County, Baringo County, Kenya
View/ Open
Date
2023Author
Lang'at, Nickson K
Type
ThesisLanguage
enMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Rift Valley fever (RVF) a viral disease of ruminants, camels and humans transmitted by
mosquitoes that belong to the Aedes and Culex genera. The disease causes a high economic
impact because of livestock sickness and deaths. The government of Kenya is currently
implementing a National Contingency Plan for RVF which is intended to serve as a national
guideline to RVF preparedness and response activities within the Republic of Kenya. It
stipulates the information, tasks, and procedures that would be necessary to facilitate the
decision-making process regarding RVF control and management. Despite the existence of an
RVF surveillance and control strategy, named the National Contingency Plan for Rift Valley
Fever, RVF outbreaks have been occurring in Baringo County and other parts of Kenya during
all the above-average rainfall seasons. This study therefore aimed to assess the enablers and
barriers of the existing contingency plan to build its resilience to avert the numerous economic
losses associated with RVF outbreaks not only in Baringo County but in Kenya as a whole. A
cross-sectional household survey was conducted in Marigat subcounty targeting households
and participants in areas where previous outbreaks had occurred. The selection of households
was purposive and stratified based on their convenient accessibility. A majority of the
respondents (64%) notified the appropriate veterinary authorities about disease outbreaks.
Further, fewer than half of the participants (46.25%) had participated in campaigns aimed at
raising awareness about RVF and other diseases. Mobile phones emerged as the primary means
of reporting disease outbreaks (48%). A significant majority of the participants (95%) believe
that RVF is a perilous disease that can be prevented through animal vaccination. In conclusion,
increased involvement of the community in RVF awareness campaign, improved veterinary
service delivery and harnessing the use of mobile phones in RVF surveillance will help
improve the existing RVF contingency plan
Publisher
University of Nairobi
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United StatesUsage Rights
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/Collections
The following license files are associated with this item: