Improvement in the Surveillance System for Livestock Diseases and Antimicrobial Use Following Operational Research Studies in Sierra Leone January-March 2023

Samuel Alie Konteh; Fatmata Isatu Bangura Turay; Amara Leno; Srinath Satyanarayana; Divya Nair; Mohamed Alpha Bah; Salam Saidu; David Sellu-Sallu; Sahr Raymond Gborie; Sorie Mohamed Kamara; Amadu Tejan Jalloh; Joseph Sam Kanu; Kadijatu Nabie Kamara; Matilda Mattu Moiwo; Esther Dsani; Noelina Nantima

doi:10.3390/tropicalmed8080408

Improvement in the Surveillance System for Livestock Diseases and Antimicrobial Use Following Operational Research Studies in Sierra Leone January-March 2023

Trop Med Infect Dis. 2023 Aug 10;8(8):408. doi: 10.3390/tropicalmed8080408.

Authors

Samuel Alie Konteh¹, Fatmata Isatu Bangura Turay¹, Amara Leno¹, Srinath Satyanarayana², Divya Nair², Mohamed Alpha Bah¹, Salam Saidu¹, David Sellu-Sallu¹, Sahr Raymond Gborie¹, Sorie Mohamed Kamara¹, Amadu Tejan Jalloh¹, Joseph Sam Kanu^{3

4}, Kadijatu Nabie Kamara³, Matilda Mattu Moiwo⁵, Esther Dsani⁶, Noelina Nantima⁶

Affiliations

¹ Livestock and Veterinary Services Division, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Youyi Building, Brooked, Freetown 00232, Sierra Leone.
² Center for Operational Research, International Union Against TB and Lung Disease (The Union), 75006 Paris, France.
³ National Disease Surveillance Program, Directorate of Health Security and Emergencies, Ministry of Health and Sanitation, Sierra Leone National Public Health Emergency Operations Centre, Cockerill, Wilkinson Road, Freetown 00232, Sierra Leone.
⁴ College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences (COMAHS), University of Sierra Leone (USL), Tower Hill, Freetown 00232, Sierra Leone.
⁵ Joint Medical Unit, Ministry of Defense, Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces, Freetown 00232, Sierra Leone.
⁶ Emergency Center for Transboundary Animal Diseases (ECTAD), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Freetown 00232, Sierra Leone.

Abstract

In Sierra Leone, two operational research (OR) studies in 2019 and 2021 showed deficiencies in the data being captured by the Integrated Animal Disease Surveillance and Reporting (IADSR) system. This third OR study was conducted in 2023 to assess whether the second OR study's results and recommendations were disseminated with the key stakeholders, the uptake of the recommendations, improvements in data capture in the IADSR system, and to describe the data on livestock disease and antimicrobial use. In 2022, on seven occasions, the authors of the second OR study disseminated the study's findings. Of the four recommendations, the one on improving laboratory infrastructure for confirmation of animal disease was not implemented. The district animal health weekly surveillance reports received through the IADSR system were sustained at 88% between the second (2021) and third (2023) studies. In both studies, the proportion of sick animals receiving antibiotics (25%) remained the same, but the use of "critically important antimicrobials for veterinary use" declined from 77% (in 2021) to 69% (in 2023). The IADSR system has improved considerably in providing information on animal health and antibiotic use, and sequential OR studies have played a key role in its improvement.

Keywords: SORT IT; Sierra Leone; animal health; antimicrobial resistance; antimicrobial use; dissemination; impact; operational research; surveillance.

Grants and funding

The Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, represented by its Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), has contributed designated funding for this SORT IT-AMR initiative, which is branded as the NIHR-TDR partnership, grant number AMR HQTDR 2220608. The APC was funded by DHSC. TDR is able to conduct its work thanks to the commitment and support from a variety of funders. A full list of TDR donors is available at: https://tdr.who.int/about-us/our-donors (accessed on 7 August 2023).