TY - JOUR
T1 - Leptospirosis outbreak in Tanzania
T2 - An alarming situation
AU - Masunga, Daniel Stephen
AU - Rai, Anushree
AU - Abbass, Mortada
AU - Uwishema, Olivier
AU - Wellington, Jack
AU - Uweis, Lama
AU - El Saleh, Rayyan
AU - Arab, Sara
AU - Onyeaka, Chinyere Vivian Patrick
AU - Onyeaka, Helen
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Authors
PY - 2022/8/6
Y1 - 2022/8/6
N2 - On July 5, 2022, the Tanzanian Ministry of Health (MoH) announced the re-emergence of leptospirosis after reporting 20 confirmed symptomatic cases and 3 mortalities. Leptospirosis is caused by a spirochete bacterium that lives in an animal's renal tubule and spreads to individuals through contact with contaminated animal urine. Unsupervised agricultural practices, urban development, wildlife infiltration, and a lack of sanitation have all been proposed as potential environmental causes of the present outbreak. The MoH is taking the necessary steps to halt the spread of said outbreak with assistance from the World Health Organization (WHO). This article examines the risk factors, etiology, number of confirmed cases, and subsequent case index to analyse the epidemiology of the current leptospirosis outbreak in Tanzania's southern Linda region. In light of these findings, this research further details recent recommendations made by the WHO, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and MoH to mitigate such an alarming situation. These recommendations include early detection and isolation, contact tracing, and chemoprophylaxis using doxycycline. The article concludes by outlining suggestions for individuals and governments, including the launch of public awareness campaigns, immunisation, increased surveillance, rapid detection testing, and the installation of suitable purification systems, to help contain future leptospirosis outbreaks.
AB - On July 5, 2022, the Tanzanian Ministry of Health (MoH) announced the re-emergence of leptospirosis after reporting 20 confirmed symptomatic cases and 3 mortalities. Leptospirosis is caused by a spirochete bacterium that lives in an animal's renal tubule and spreads to individuals through contact with contaminated animal urine. Unsupervised agricultural practices, urban development, wildlife infiltration, and a lack of sanitation have all been proposed as potential environmental causes of the present outbreak. The MoH is taking the necessary steps to halt the spread of said outbreak with assistance from the World Health Organization (WHO). This article examines the risk factors, etiology, number of confirmed cases, and subsequent case index to analyse the epidemiology of the current leptospirosis outbreak in Tanzania's southern Linda region. In light of these findings, this research further details recent recommendations made by the WHO, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and MoH to mitigate such an alarming situation. These recommendations include early detection and isolation, contact tracing, and chemoprophylaxis using doxycycline. The article concludes by outlining suggestions for individuals and governments, including the launch of public awareness campaigns, immunisation, increased surveillance, rapid detection testing, and the installation of suitable purification systems, to help contain future leptospirosis outbreaks.
KW - Africa
KW - Leptospirosis
KW - Outbreak
KW - Tanzania
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85135686186&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.amsu.2022.104347
DO - 10.1016/j.amsu.2022.104347
M3 - Letter
AN - SCOPUS:85135686186
SN - 2049-0801
VL - 80
JO - Annals of Medicine and Surgery
JF - Annals of Medicine and Surgery
M1 - 104347
ER -