Participatory assessment of paid vaccination campaigns for village chickens against Newcastle disease in Kongo Central province.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where state-driven animal vaccination campaigns are organized only in response to epidemics, the organization of a permanent animal vaccination service is urgently needed. A non-governmental organization has set up an experimental paid vaccination service for village chickens against Newcastle Disease (ND) in the Kongo Central province. This mixed-method study presents a participatory assessment of this experiment, identifying socio-economic factors that influence the decision of chicken keepers to adopt vaccination. The study was conducted in four territories of the province. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected through 12 focus group discussions (FGDs) with professionals of animal health and chicken keepers and 160 semi-structured interviews with chicken keepers, sampled by snowball technique. This participatory process has resulted in the design of a grid for assessing animal vaccination service's performance. Here translating the narratives into a preliminary structured assessment, this grid is an output of the study, to be mobilized for future rapid assessments of the vaccination service in a quantitative prospect. The grid consisted of nine criteria, further composed by 16 items, translated into questions to be asked to chicken keepers and vaccinators. In our study area, fieldworkers enumerated four animal vaccination campaigns during a period of 21 years (except those subject to the present assessment). Around 13% of chicken keepers of our sample had participated in ND vaccination programs. Almost 96% of interviewed chicken keepers expressed their willingness to pay for ND vaccination, and 87% of chicken keepers that vaccinated their chickens perceived the vaccine as effective. Vaccinators estimated that 56% of the chicken keepers who were contacted had actually paid for the vaccination of their chickens. The assessment grid highlighted four points in favor of the sustainability of this service, i.e. the general interest of chickens keepers, vaccine efficacy, vaccine availability and ease of use of the vaccine. Two weak points were identified, viz. the poor access of chicken keepers to information and the weak motivation of vaccinators. The vaccine coverage was calculated within the sample at 13.1%. Paid vaccination campaign for village chicken in Kongo Central obtained a performance score of 62.8%, with the highest score in Kwilu-Ngongo (73.1%) and the lowest in Kasangulu (52.4%). Two factors of adoption of vaccination were identified as statistically significant, i.e. chicken housing and territory. Significant differences appeared between territories in access to information for chicken keepers and in vaccinators motivation. The priorities for the improvement of this service appear to be awareness raising among chicken keepers and increasing vaccinators' motivation.

Overview of Animal Rabies in Kinshasa Province in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

INTRODUCTION: Rabies is one of the major public health problems mostly affecting developing countries in Africa and Asia where 99.9% of all rabies related human deaths are recorded each year. In Democratic Republic of Congo, repeated outbreaks have been reported. Despite this, there is little reliable epidemiological data about rabies in the country for the development of effective control strategies. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective study was carried out in Kinshasa Province during a period of five years (2009-2013) to describe the proportion of rabid animals and the species involved in rabies transmission and maintenance. The survey also aimed at describing the spatial-temporal distribution of rabies. To gather information, the daily registers of institutions involved in rabies diagnosis were reviewed and each rabies case was traced back to area of occurrence for collection of geographic coordinates. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: A total of 5,053 attacks were registered involving six animal species including dog, cat, monkey, rabbit, rat, and pig. Based on clinical observations, rabies was reported in dogs and cats while data obtained from the laboratory confirmed rabies cases included dogs, cats and a goat. The annual distribution showed a significant decrease of rabies cases from 2009 up to 2011 and a later increase up to 2013. There was no difference in rabies occurrence between seasons (p = 0.721). Rabies cases were three times higher in peri-urban zone than in urban zone OR = 3.4 (95% CI: 2.3-5.1). The positive proportion of rabies was 2.6% (95% CI: 2.1-3) based on clinical evidence and 65.9% (95% CI: 50-79.5) for laboratory confirmed cases. CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION: This study confirms the endemicity of rabies in Kinshasa where occurrence of rabies cases was related to human population density and lifestyle. In order to control rabies, there is need to set up a surveillance program and implement efficient mass vaccination campaigns of susceptible animals.