Avet’shelpinghand

A Chinese veterinarian helps raise Djibouti’s animal disease surveillance to a new level

The purpose of our work here is to help improve their hardware and software and contribute to the development of Djibouti’s livestock sector, thus further promoting the friendship between our two countries.

GUARDING the Mandeb Strait - the lifeline linking the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean - Djibouti’s geographical location is extremely advantageous. The country is an obligatory stop for East African countries wishing to export cattle, sheep, camels and other livestock abroad. However, its strategic location comes with a downside: it also means greater risks of diseases spreading in the country.

Therefore, it is crucial for Djibouti to scientifically and accurately monitor the eight serious epidemic diseases commonly found in the East African region, including Rift Valley fever, foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), ovine rinderpest and contagious bovine pleuropneumonia.

However, due to a lack of relevant technologies and equipment, Djibouti’s Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine, which should be responsible for detecting and monitoring these diseases, has failed to carry out the work independently. As a result, the work has been undertaken by private laboratories for a long time.

“It always costs more to have the epidemic diseases detection work done by private laboratories, and what’s more, the role of Djibouti’s Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine, with a national-level laboratory, cannot be taken into full play,” said Zhang Pu, a 36-year-old Chinese veterinary expert, who is a member of the Third Chinese Senior Expert Group on Agricultural Technology in Djibouti. Aware of this problem, he decided to make a change and help the laboratory stand steady on its own.

The first goal of Zhang was to help the four local technicians in the laboratory master the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test technique. “Once the technicians in the laboratory master this technique, they will be able to do the daily testing of most of the epidemic diseases independently. With improved capacity, the laboratory will be able to provide effective data for risk assessment on the epidemic diseases as well as for their prevention and control,” Zhang told Chinafrica.

From April 2016, Zhang gave a 23-day test demonstration and training for the local technicians. They tested 950 samples of FMD, 440 samples of ovine rinderpest, 750 samples of Rift Valley fever and 420 samples of contagious bovine pleuropneumonia. The training combined both theory and practice. A theory course on each of the animal diseases laboratory testing technique was followed by a three-day practice. Zhang also combined training with the routine work of the laboratory, so as to avoid delaying their work and wasting reagents and consumables.

In order to ensure the effectiveness of the training, in January 2017, he gave a test to the laboratory technicians. As part of the evaluation, Zhang tested their diseases test- ing capability, and the final test results showed that, except for one staff who was studying abroad, the other three were able to independently use the ELISA test method.

Waiss Miguil, head of the laboratory, appreciated Zhang’s work, noting that it was due to Zhang’s assistance and hard work that the staff of his lab had made great strides both in terms of technical expertise and operational norms.