Community Engagement for Improved Ebola Disease Outbreak Prevention and Response in Uganda

Details

  • Period: 2025-01-01 – 2027-12-31
  • Budget: 4,200,000 SEK
  • Funder: Swedish Research Council

Description

Viral zoonoses are infectious diseases that are spread from animals to humans. One of the most feared zoonoses is Ebola. Outbreaks of this hemorrhagic fever occur at regular intervals in places where people in various ways come into contact with the animals that carry the infection. Perhaps the most famous is the outbreak in West Africa that claimed thousands of lives in 2014-15. An important lesson from that outbreak was how important it is to have local roots, people's trust and a broad understanding of cultural conditions and social structures, and not just try to solve the problem of Ebola from a medically top-down perspective.

The encounter between humans and nature, between forest and city and between wild and domestic animals are all important interfaces where infection can be transmitted. It is therefore important to understand what happens in these encounters, and how these can occur without the risk of new epidemics. This is particularly important in connection with major shifts in society driven by climate change, urbanization and increased encroachment on previously untouched nature. Contact with certain types of bats in particular is often cited as a cause of Ebola outbreaks, and knowledge of what this contact looks like and what drives it are important pieces of the puzzle for future approaches.

Uganda is a country that regularly experiences Ebola outbreaks, but has so far managed to contain them. This research project will study what has contributed to this success, and how we can become even better at preventing, detecting and taking action in the event of future Ebola outbreaks. An action plan to strengthen community preparedness will be developed together with local actors and village health workers by co-creating interventions that can be implemented locally. By studying both the joint development of the measures and how these are then carried out, we will gain knowledge that can help shape recommendations and strategies not only in Uganda but also globally.

  • Busoga Health Forum, Jinja, Uganda
  • Makerere University, School of Public Health, , Kampala, Uganda
  • Sveriges Lantbruksuniversitet (SLU)
  • Sveriges Veterinärmedicinska Anstalt (SVA)

FOLLOW UPPSALA UNIVERSITY ON

facebook
instagram
twitter
youtube
linkedin