Peste des petits ruminants virus (PPRV) causes the acute, highly contagious disease peste des petits ruminants (PPR) that affects small domestic and wild ruminants. PPR is of importance in the small livestock-keeping industry in Tanzania, especially in rural areas as it is an important source of livelihood. Morbidity and case fatality rate can be as high as 80–100% in naïve herds; however, in endemic areas, morbidity and case fatality range between 10 and 100% where previous immunity, age, and species of infected animal determine severity of outcome. PPR was officially confirmed in domestic animals in the Ngorongoro district of Tanzania in 2008. It is now considered to be endemic in the domestic sheep and goat populations throughout Tanzania, but restricted to one or more areas in the small ruminant wildlife population. In this article, we review the history and the current status of PPR in Tanzania and neighboring countries. To control and eradicate PPR in the region, a joint effort between these countries needs to be undertaken. The effort must also secure genuine engagement from the animal holders to succeed.

African swine fever remains an important pig disease globally in view of its rapid spread, economic impacts and food implications, with no option of vaccination or treatment. The Southern Highlands zone of Tanzania, an important pig-producing hub in East Africa, is endemic with African swine fever (ASF). From approximately the year 2010, the recurrence of outbreaks has been observed and it has now become a predictable pattern. We conducted exploratory participatory epidemiology and participatory disease surveillance in the Southern Highlands to understand the pig sector and the drivers and facilitators of infections, risk factors and dynamics of ASF in this important pig-producing area. Pigs continue to play a major role in rural livelihoods in the Southern Highlands and pork is a major animal protein source. Outbreaks of diseases, particularly ASF, have continued to militate against the scaling up of pig operations in the Southern Highlands. Intra- and inter-district and trans-border transnational outbreaks of ASF, the most common disease in the Southern Highlands, continue to occur. Trade and marketing systems, management systems, and lack of biosecurity, as well as anthropogenic (human) issues, animals and fomites, were identified as risk factors and facilitators of ASF infection. Changes in human behavior and communication in trade and marketing systems in the value chain, biosecurity and pig management practices are warranted. Relevant training must be implemented alongside the launch of the national ASF control strategy for Tanzania, which already established a roadmap for combating ASF in Tanzania. The high-risk points (slaughter slabs, border areas, and farms with poor biosecurity) and high-risk period (November–March) along the pig value chain must be targeted as critical control points for interventions in order to reduce the burden of infection.

of frontline actors who engage with meat, and the ways in which social, material and institutional realities shape these, is important for understanding how decisions about risk and meat safety are made in the complexity and context of everyday life, and thus for finding effective ways to support them to further enhance their work.

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 dog species at interfaces were the risk factors for seropositivity to rabies virus infection in dogs. A percentage of the previously vaccinated dogs remained unimmunized and some unvaccinated dogs were seropositive. Evidence of community engagement and multi-coordinated implementation of One Health in Moshi serves as an example of best practice in tackling zoonotic diseases using multi-level government efforts. The district-level establishment of the One Health rapid response team (OHRRT), implementation of a carefully structured routine vaccination campaign, improved health education, and the implementation of barriers between domestic animals and wildlife at the interfaces are necessary to reduce the burden of rabies in Moshi and communities with similar profiles.

Background With increasing demand for red meat in Tanzania comes heightened potential for zoonotic infections in animals and humans that disproportionately affect poor communities. A range of frontline government employees work to protect public health, providing services for people engaged in animal-based livelihoods (livestock owners and butchers), and enforcing meat safety and food premises standards. In contrast to literature which emphasises the inadequacy of extension support and food safety policy implementation in low- and middle-income countries, this paper foregrounds the ‘street-level diplomacy’ deployed by frontline actors operating in challenging contexts. Methods This research is based on semi-structured interviews with 61 government employees, including livestock extension officers/meat inspectors and health officers, across 10 randomly-selected rural and urban wards. Results Frontline actors combined formal and informal strategies including the leveraging of formal policy texts and relationships with other state employees, remaining flexible and recognising that poverty constrained people’s ability to comply with health regulations. They emphasised the need to work with livestock keepers and butchers to build their knowledge to self-regulate and to work collaboratively to ensure meat safety. Remaining adaptive and being hesitant to act punitively unless absolutely necessary cultivated trust and positive relations, making those engaged in animal-based livelihoods more open to learning from and cooperating with extension officers and inspectors. This may result in higher levels of meat safety than might be the case if frontline actors stringently enforced regulations. Conclusion The current tendency to view frontline actors’ partial enforcement of meat safety regulations as a failure obscures the creative and proactive ways in which they seek to ensure meat safety in a context of limited resources. Their application of ‘street-level diplomacy’ enables them to be sensitive to local socio-economic realities, to respect local social norms and expectations and to build support for health safety interventions when necessary. More explicitly acknowledging the role of trust and positive state-society relations and the diplomatic skills deployed by frontline actors as a formal part of their inspection duties offers new perspectives and enhanced understandings on the complicated nature of their work and what might be done to support them. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12889-019-7067-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.