Rabies listed as top priority zoonotic disease in Ethiopia

Rabies has been named as the top priority zoonotic disease of major public health concern in Ethiopia. Experts identified rabies as their top priority at a zoonotic disease prioritization workshop in September last year at the Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI). The workshop was supported by the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) of the United States of America government.

The goal of the workshop was to identify the top five zoonotic diseases of major public health concern in Ethiopia that need to be jointly addressed by animal and human health agencies to have the maximum impact on the health of people and animals

Five zoonotic diseases, out of a list of 43 potential zoonotic diseases of concern, were prioritized by the workshop participants using a semi-quantitative selection tool developed by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Experts agreed that rabies was the most dangerous threat among the zoonotic diseases considered. 

The five selected zoonotic diseases were rabies, anthrax, brucellosis, leptospirosis, and echinococcosis. Zoonotic diseases, those spread from animals to human, have a huge impact on Ethiopia due to the large numbers of livestock and low-income farmers. A large proportion of the population have direct contact with livestock on a daily basis and are therefore at a higher risk. 

However, Ethiopia is in the process of implementing a programme to increase the number of livestock as part of a farming efficiency drive which could undermine the goal of decreasing the risk of zoonotic diseases. More collaboration is needed between the human and animal health sectors to tackle the disease. To facilitate this, the workshop participants recommended the creation of a One Health-focused Zoonotic Disease Unit, which would include staff from EPHI and Ministry of Livestock and Fishery Resources (formerly part of Ministry of Agriculture) or other appropriate animal health agencies.