Infection Control

The Zoo-informatics Laboratory now uses remotely sensed data from ESRI ArcGIS Online tools to identify and explore natural transmission of human-animal diseases, especially rabies, indicating the association between behavioural and biologic risk factors in driving the occurrence and pattern of spread of these diseases. It is on this framework that human-animal disease risk management is planned and analyzed. The products of the laboratory supports our web-based system for dissemination of geo-referenced projects, available at https://ccpzui.maps.arcgis.com/ .Opportunity for online participation in outreach projects, decision support dashboards, progress in epidemiology, epizootiology, risk analysis and response plans of the centre for selected community hotspots.

The Zoo-informatics laboratory is designed to provide evidence-based decision support systems on human-animal disease control in West Africa and building capacity for participatory intervention. The laboratory facility will support teaching of an interdisciplinary postgraduate course module on GIS and Zoonoses Management (GISZM) at Master’s and Doctoral degree levels when the 2012-2013 academic session commenced in January 2013. The lab used West Africa-wide Geographic Information Systems (GIS) applied to mapping the incidence, prevalence, control and stepwise elimination of rabies at the human-animal interface in West Africa.

CCPZ supports intervention in disease control through a Consortium for Control and Prevention of Zoonoses in West Africa. The Consortium includes the University of Ibadan, Nigeria Federal Ministry of Health, the Nigerian Veterinary Medical Association, the Nigerian Institute of Science Laboratory Technology, the National Veterinary Research Institute, Nigeria, the University of Ghana, the Ghana Veterinary Medical Association, the Ghana Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Cuttington University, Liberia, the Liberia Ministry of Agriculture, the Liberia Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Njala University, Sierra Leone and the Animal Health Club, Sierra Leone. Faculty and students in these institutions and career officers engage in joint design and intervention in research projects, managing disease spread and managing outbreaks.