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This paper reviews preparedness for containing and controlling emerging and re-emerging
diseases drawing lessons from disease events that occurred in animal and human populations in the last
five decades (1961-2011). A comprehensive analysis based on retrieval and analysis of grey and published
literature as well as reported cases was carried out to document type and trend of occurrence of emerging
and re-emerging infectious diseases in different parts of Tanzania. Overall, the majority of diseases
reported in the country were viral in nature followed by bacterial diseases. The trend for the occurrence
shows a number of new emerging diseases as well as re-occurrence of old diseases in both animal
(domestic and wild) and human populations. In humans, the major disease epidemics reported in the last
five decades include cholera, influenza A H1N1, plague and rubella. In animals, the major epidemic diseases
reported were Contagious Bovine Pleuropneumonia, Contagious Caprine Pleuropneumonia, Peste des
petits ruminants and Giraffe Ear and Skin Diseases. Some epidemics have been reported in both human and
animal populations including Rift Valley fever and anthrax. The emergence of the ‘fit-for purpose’
approaches and technologies such as the discipline of One Health, use of participatory epidemiology and
disease surveillance and mobile technologies offers opportunity for optimal use of limited resources to
improve early detection, diagnosis and response to disease events and consequently reduced impact of
such diseases in animal and human populations. |
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