Review of Participatory Epidemiology Practices in Animal Health (1980-2015) and Future Practice Directions

Abstract

In this study we combined an inventory of the major applications, geographic regions and diseases covered by participatory epidemiology (PE) activities in the field of animal health since 1980, together with an email discussion forum with PE practitioners from different regions of the world. The inventory included the search of peer-reviewed papers, master and technical reports, conference proceedings, manuals, training materials and projects. The search resulted in a low number of PE activity results until the year 2000, followed by a considerable increase (especially from 2012). Most of the identified activities were implemented in Africa and Asia, and focused on surveillance, disease survey and prioritization, and disease control. Seventy-nine PE practitioners working predominantly in Africa, Asia and Europe (29, 22 and 18 respectively) contributed to the email discussion forum. They proposed various modifications to the existing PE definition and discussed different issues related to the applicatoin of PE, its institutionalization for use in policy development, as well as the priorities for future development. The need to increase the number of PE trained people together with some methodological developments and the application of this methodology in developed countries, were some of the points highlighted during the forum. These factors stress the importance of further developing PE as a useful approach for engaging communities in addressing animal and related public health risks.

The Concept And Methods Of Community Participation In Animal And Human Disease Surveillance

“…Appraisals, on the other hand, require a single small but specialised team to carry out an in-depth study of a number of factors playing a role in a given community. Overall, the costs of PRAs are thus much lower [27]. Advantages of participatory methods are enormous some of which are listed below.…”

“…Key informants are often very knowledgeable persons like field social anthropologist who do not fully realize what they know but can provide most useful insights and raise unexpected issues. Other local key informants found useful in field studies were agricultural extension workers, persons in charge of clinics, opinion leaders and school teachers who are better educated in the communities [22,27].…”

“…It has also been proven to be effective in terms of disease detection, monitoring and communication because of collaborative efforts between professional researchers and communities. On these bases, participatory approaches have now been given due disease surveillance credit when solely utilized in outbreak detection and in some situations when used to complement the conventional methods to aid more effective surveillance [7,9,35,57,58,59].…”

Participatory evaluation of delivery of animal health care services by community animal health workers in Karamoja region of Uganda

“…Participatory approaches described by Catley and Mariner [7], Barahona and Levy [14] and Allepuz et al [15] were used to develop the evaluation tools. In consultation with the DVOs in the region, key stakeholders to be involved in developing evaluation tools were identified.…”

Farmer and Veterinarian Attitudes towards the Bovine Tuberculosis Eradication Programme in Spain: What Is Going on in the Field?

“…The increased interest in these approaches has been reflected in an increase in participatory epidemiology activities in animal health, especially from 2012; however, most of them have been implemented in Asia and Africa but not so much in Europe (12). …”