Browsing by Author "Rwego, Innocent"

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    Best Practice Guidelines for Health Monitoring and Disease Control in Great Ape Populations
    (Occasional Papers of the IUCN Species Survival Commission, 2015) Gilardi, Kirsten V.; Gillespie, Thomas R.; Kalema-Zikusoka, Gladys; Köndgen, Sophie; Mugisha, Lawrence; Rwego, Innocent
    For everyone: compulsory 5-day* quarantine before going to the chimpanzee research camps. The quarantine period starts on Friday afternoon, when assistants come back to the park after their week off, and ends ve days later on Wednesday afternoon. In normal routines, no one should join the quarantine later than Friday, as it will interrupt the quarantine cycle, in which case quarantine needs to start all over again. Travellers arriving on days other than Friday (international travellers or coming from Abidjan) can start their quarantine in north camp so as not to interrupt the routine quarantine.
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    Risk Factors Associated With The Prevalence Of Schistosoma Mansoni And Soil-Transmitted Helminths Among Primary School Children (10-14 Years) In Buyende District, Uganda
    (Acta Entomology and Zoology, 2020) Atuheire, Covia; Kisakye, John; Rwego, Innocent
    Schistosomiasis is a water-based disease transmitted by schistosomes. Schistosomes usually co-infect their hosts with soil-transmitted helminths (STHs) parasites due to overlapping poverty-related factors favoring their distribution. In Uganda, infestations of STHs and schistosomiasis commonest in primary school children are ranked 2nd and 3rd, respectively, among the top 10 causes of morbidity despite classified as NTDs in the HSSP aggravated by low financial allocation budget for their control. To determine the prevalence of Schistosoma mansoni and STHs parasites among primary school children, 10-14 years and the associated risk factors in Buyende district.Stool samples from 400 children distributed in eight randomly selected primary schools were processed for Schistosoma mansoni and STHs before a face-face standardised interview guide was administered to ascertain factors responsible for perpetuating the parasites in the communities.Overall prevalence of 32% for Schistosoma mansoni in 2011 and 16% in 2018 was recorded while 1.25%, 0.2% in 2011 and 0.38%, 0% respectively. Hookworm was not reported in 2011, but a prevalence of 6.7% was recorded in 2018. There was a strong association of nature of housing materials OR; 1.61, CI; 1.02-1.40) education level of the caretakers (p-value <0.001; aOR: 17.5, CI: 5.35-50.96) and the swimming frequency of the child respondent aOR: 2.44 95% CI: 1.56-4.23) as the most important risk factors.Illiteracy of caretakers being the critical risk factor should prompt increased health education with information, education and communication (IEC) materials urgently for intervention especially among individuals of low socioeconomic status in fishing communities.
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    Rodents As Potential Hosts And Reservoirs Of Parasites Along The Edge Of A Central African Forest: Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, South Western Uganda
    (African Health Sciences, 2020) Mawanda, Patrick; Rwego, Innocent; Kisakye, John J.; Sheil, Douglas
    Rodents which constitute 42% of the world’s mammalian population are major reservoirs of pathogens that cause zoonoses. Currently we know little about rodents’ potential zoonotic transfer from human settlements into protected areas and how any such threats might be reduced.To investigate the role of rodents as reservoirs of zoonotic pathogens along the boundary of Bwindi.A rodent inventory in three villages along the edge of Bwindi, was carried using live trapping techniques and the local rodents’ ecto and endoparasite fauna investigated.Two hundred eighty eight rodents captured belonged to 24 species, 17 genera and 4 families with Lophuromys aquilus being most abundant (30.2%). 240 ectoparasites which included mites, fleas and ticks were collected from 88 rodents out of 249. Proamys jacksoni rodents were most infested. Although the mites represented the largest proportion (84.6%), the highest species diversity was shown among the fleas (9 species). Some 36.9% of the rodents were infected with endopara- sites of which L. aquilus haboured most. Endoparasitic genera identified included Nippostrongylus, Ascaris, Strongyloides, Trichuris, Hymenolepis, Taenia and Cryptosporidium.Rodents have a zoonotic potentiality. There is need for developing effective integrated rodent management programs against rodent to reduce chances of parasite transmission within the protected areas.
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    Self-Reported Medical History Survey Of Humans As A Measure Of Health Risk To The Chimpanzees [Pan Troglodytes Schweinfurthii) Of Kibale National Park, Uganda
    (Oryx, 2001) Adams, Hayley Rebecca; Sleeman, Jonathan M.; Rwego, Innocent; New, John C.
    Kibale National Park (KNP), Uganda, has a number of chimpanzees habituated for tourism. The close genetic relationship between humans and chimpanzees means that there is the potential for disease transmission between the two. The aim of this study was to establish the diseases to which chimpanzees may be exposed by surveying the medical histories of humans in contact with the chimpanzees of KNP. Medical questionnaires were given to tourists visiting KNP and to the population of a village close to the park. The 62 tourist surveys returned indicated a high prevalence of disease symptoms, in particular diarrhoea, as well as ongoing infectious diseases and a lack of current vaccinations. The 50 local surveys returned also indicated a high prevalence of disease symptoms, in particular respiratory disease, along with a low rate of vaccination and a high frequency of visual contact with the chimpanzees both within and outside KNP. This study indicates that humans are a potential source of infection for chimpanzees. The results, which have been communicated to the appropriate authorities, will assist in the devising of proper tourist viewing regulations and provide local health authorities with the information necessary to improve both public health and chimpanzee health. Further recommendations include education of tourists regarding appropriate vaccinations, hand washing prior to the visit, the use of facemasks during the visit, and the provision of latrines. Chimpanzee ecotourism is becoming increasingly popular and protecting the chimpanzees' health will help to ensure that ecotourism is a sustainable activity.