Outbreak Response on the Shores of Lake Victoria

One Health students joined Uganda’s Ministry of Health’s investigation into the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza H5N8 outbreak along the shores of Lake Victoria.

On January 2, 2017, the Uganda Wild Life Education Center received reports from fishermen about the massive death of wild birds at Lutembe Bay, a protected wetland area of Lake Victoria. As a critical wetland system, the bay is home to a variety of birds, including seven threatened bird species and millions of White-winged Black Tern.

Throughout the month, reports of large-scale deaths in wild and domestic bird populations started streaming in from other districts along Lake Victoria. On January 16, Uganda’s Ministry of Health declared an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza — H5N1, later confirmed as H5N8.

On January 26, the One Health Central and Eastern Africa (OHCEA) university network’s Uganda office sent out a multidisciplinary team of students to support the outbreak field teams and the Ministry of Health’s efforts. The students from Makerere University’s One Health Club have been trained on the One Health approach — responding to infectious diseases with an understanding of the interconnectedness of humans, animals, and the environment. Avian influenza, as a zoonotic disease, can infect humans, though it is rare.

Veterinary Medicine, Wildlife Health, Infectious Disease Management, Law, and Public Health students joined the multi-disciplinary team to conduct a risk assessment of the HPAI outbreak. The team traveled to several of the districts with suspected cases, including Wakiso, Mukono, Nakasongola, Masaka, and Kalangala districts. The team was brought in at every stage of the outbreak to make the most of the experiential learning opportunity. Throughout the stakeholder meetings, they met teams from the responding agencies and departments, as well as fishermen, farmers, poultry product traders, and the local police.

Avian influenza, or bird flu, is easily transmitted as aquatic birds migrate and fly from one water source to the next. This outbreak shows how infected birds traveled along Lake Victoria and the surrounding areas, infecting other birds along the way. Eventually, the outbreak spread to domestic birds, causing families to lose many of their poultry.

The student team spoke with community members across the districts to sensitize the villagers on how to handle the outbreak. Their awareness campaigns offered guidance on how to properly dispose of the infected carcasses, the importance of reporting suspected cases, and other safety best practices. Community members were encouraged to avoid eating the infected birds and to quarantine their domestic poultry.

As the number of cases increased, it became more important than ever to stop the spread of the outbreak, particularly to the domestic poultry, but also to the migratory White-winged Black Tern that were heavily affected across the districts. The students began interviewing key community members to assess the risk factors associated with the outbreak. Their investigations found that the suspected cases in Nakasongola were actually the result of mining issues, not the bird flu strain that was sweeping through the other districts.

To meet biosafety measures, the students learned how to don and doff their personal protective equipment properly. The large white suits and blue gloves and goggles were worn during the collection of dead wild and domestic birds at each site. The samples were either analyzed on-site or sent to a laboratory for further analysis.

By the end of the investigation, the students had participated in almost every step of the outbreak response — everything from outbreak planning to writing situation reports. This hands-on experience taught the students how to use their skills in a real world situation. They are now one step closer to becoming the future One Health workforce in Uganda.

One Health Workforce


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One Health Workforce

Strengthening health workforces to prevent, detect, and respond to infectious disease threats in Africa and Southeast Asia.

One Health Workforce

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The @USAID EPT2 One Health Workforce project is developing a workforce to prevent, detect, and respond to infectious disease threats in Africa and SE Asia.

One Health Workforce

Strengthening health workforces to prevent, detect, and respond to infectious disease threats in Africa and Southeast Asia.

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