The role of community-based programmes and participatory epidemiology in disease surveillance and international trade
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The role of community-based programmes and participatory epidemiology in disease surveillance and international trade

How community-based animal health workers and surveillance workers can join forces

Authors: Mariner, J. C.; Catley, A.; Zepeda, C.
Publisher: Institutional and Policy Support Team, AU

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This paper describes the role of community animal health workers in surveillance as the eyes and the ears of the veterinary services in remote, extensive production systems. The application of participatory and community-based approaches to surveillance enhances the sensitivity and representativeness of surveillance systems resulting in more reliable assessments of the animal health status.

The paper argues that community-based and participatory surveillance methods do not replace conventional surveillance and analytical capacities. They extend the capabilities of the system by enhancing the penetration of data collection activities into the traditional communities, especially in remote and extensive systems.

The paper presents the OIE guidelines that state: “Investigation of the suspicion of cases of animal disease is one of the most important means of agent surveillance”. It argues that in order to investigate suspicious cases you must first detect them. Community animal health workers are local experts and the ground-level eyes and ears of a surveillance system in remote areas. Community animal health workers do not conduct epidemiological investigations. They assist veterinarians using PE or other epidemiological methods by acting as entry points to the community by:

  • providing a link between veterinarians and communities. CAHWs are trusted members of a community and can help to establish good rapport and understanding between the veterinarians and community members
  • acting as key informants e.g. by identifying other key informants in the community and providing information on the local disease situation
  • helping to organise community meetings, visits to herds, sampling and so on; if trained and supervised, CAHWs can also be very useful for sample collection
  • assisting with feedback of results to the community

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