Plague in Uganda

Projects

Overview

NCAR and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have undertaken a unique pilot program to enhance surveillance for plague by training traditional healers to recognize and report plague in NW Uganda. The regions of West Nile, Uganda above 1300 meters are at elevated risk for plague transmission because of cooler and wetter conditions compared to the surrounding areas. Traditional healers were trained to recognize and refer plague patients to local health clinics in support of a broader active plague surveillance program in collaboration with the Uganda Virus Research Institute The program is in its 6^th year and has 43 healers in the referral network. The program has led to hundreds of referrals and plays an important role in strengthening public health in the West Nile region of Uganda.

Human plague is transmitted by fleas that travel on rats and other rodents. Plague outbreaks are generally linked with heavy rainfall, perhaps because rats are more likely to forage for crop-based food near human dwellings during rainy seasons. RAL researchers are collaborating with scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to develop models to simulate human plague risks that are caused by climatic factors.

Funding:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
Division of Vector Borne Infectious Diseases

Resources

Publications

Detailed results from this work can be found in the following publications:

Hayden MH, Monaghan AJ, Apangu T, Griffith KS, Mead PS, Beard CB, BorchertJN, Boegler K, Zielniski-Gitierrez E, Acayo S, Acidri R, Moore SM, MacMillan K,Atiku LA, <panga JT, Enscore RE, Gage KL and Eisen RJ. 2015.Mapping and modeling plague in Uganda to improve health outcomes. WHO-WMO Climate Services for Health. Accepted for publication

Monaghan, A.J., K. MacMillan, S.M. Moore, P.S. Mead, M.H. Hayden, and R.J. Eisen, 2012: A regional climatography of West Nile, Uganda, to support human plague modeling. J. Appl. Meteor. Climatol., 51, 1201-1221.

MacMillan, K., A.J. Monaghan, T. Apangu, K.S. Griffith, P.S. Mead, S. Acayo, R. Acidri, S.M. Moore, J.T. Mpanga, R.E. Enscore, K.L. Gage, and R.J. Eisen, 2012: Climate predictors of the spatial distribution of human plague cases in the West Nile region of Uganda. Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg., 86, 514-523.

Eisen, R.J., J. Borchert, J. Mpanga, L. Atiku, K. MacMillan, K. Boegler, J. Montenieri, A.J. Monaghan, and K.L. Gage 2012: Flea diversity as an element for persistence of plague bacteria in an east African plague focus. PLoS ONE, 7, e35598, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0035598.

Moore, S.M., A.J. Monaghan, K.S. Griffith, T. Apungu, P.S. Mead, and R.J. Eisen, 2012: Improvement of disease prediction and modeling through the use of meteorological ensembles: Human plague in Uganda. PLoS ONE, in press.

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Projects

Publications

Climate and Weather Impacts on Human Health Projects

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