Veterinary Services work together on surveillance protocols for viral haemorrhagic fevers at the wildlife-human-environment interface

The World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH, formerly OIE) Focal Points for the topics of wildlife, animal disease notification, veterinary laboratories, and veterinary communication, alongside their Delegates, spent five days together to develop surveillance protocols for viral hemorrhagic fevers (VHFs) in wildlife, for their respective countries. The 24 participants (6 women and 18 men) from Uganda, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Nigeria used the opportunity to discuss challenges and successes in establishing national surveillance systems, to strengthen their regional networks and collaboration mechanisms.

The workshop format was participatory in nature and aimed to encourage interactive sessions, including the use of educational tools such as the ALERT boardgame on community-based epidemiological surveillance, engaging participants in simulation and lobbying exercises, and refreshing their knowledge through e-learning modules on disease surveillance systems and on the five diseases targeted by the EBO-SURSY Project. The workshop resulted in the development of four draft Rift valley fever (RVF) surveillance protocols for Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Ghana, and Uganda and a draft Lassa fever protocol for Liberia.