Districts In Kenya Research Articles

Examining the Influence of Stigma and Discrimination on the Retention of Pupils Affected By HIV/AIDS in Emarti Zone, Kirindon Division, Transmara District of Kenya

This study examines the impact of stigma and discrimination on the retention of HIV/AIDS students in Kirindon, Emarti Zone, and Transmara District. The findings revealed that culture is the primary contributing factor to stigma. However, some researchers have reported that we can change culture for the better. We can achieve this by first sensitizing the masses about stigma and discrimination. This could be a starting point for a change of attitude. The people who need to change their attitude include the educators, the parents, and their children. Once completed, the remainder of the intervention will proceed seamlessly. Schools should review the HIV/AIDS interventions they’ve adopted and start implementing them, taking into account children’s right to education. Those in charge of counseling must also carefully observe the children who lose interest in learning or begin to withdraw from school. This behavior may be stigmatizing, necessitating the need for related counseling. Schools must intensify their advocacy for children’s rights. For instance, we must intensify communication-based approaches and collaborate with the local community. Peer educators and volunteers should travel from village to village, meeting families and encouraging them not to isolate those who are HIV/AIDS positive and not to misinform their children. Keywords: Discrimination, HIV/ AIDS, Interventions, Stigma, Teachers

Evaluating the gap in rapid diagnostic testing: insights from subnational Kenyan routine health data

BackgroundUnderstanding diagnostic capacities is essential to addressing healthcare provision and inequity, particularly in low-income and middle-income countries. This study used routine data to assess trends in rapid diagnostic test (RDT)...

Indiscipline and Academic Performance of Pupils in Njoro Division Nakuru District Kenya

This study determines the effects of indiscipline on academic performance in Njoro Division of Nukuru District Kenya. The study employed a descriptive survey to determine how deviance affects performance in the Division. The study concluded that due to rampant discipline problems teachers are demotivated and resourceful. This lowers both the performance and the quality of education. The study recommends careful monitoring of the students who break school rules, hence strengthening of school rules in the schools. The study further recommended for curriculum adaptations to suit learners with discipline problems in the schools. Key words: Indiscipline, Academic Performance, Pupils, Njoro Division, Nakuru District.

Lessons learned from COVID-19 vaccine acceptance among pregnant and lactating women from two districts in Kenya to inform demand generation efforts for future maternal RSV vaccines

BackgroundRespiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a leading cause of acute lower respiratory infections globally, with most RSV-related deaths occurring in infants < 6 months of age. The highest burden of RSV is in low-and-middle income countries, and in sub-Saharan Africa, RSV may be responsible for almost half of all hospital admissions with severe or very severe pneumonia among infants under 1 year. There is a maternal RSV vaccine on the horizon. Our study objective was to better understand how lessons learned from the COVID-19 vaccine experience rollout among pregnant and lactating people in Kenya could inform future maternal RSV vaccine rollout.MethodsThis qualitative study interviewed 16 healthcare providers including doctors, nurses, midwives, community health workers, and vaccinators. Participants were recruited from two counties in Kenya and included healthcare providers that served diverse communities. A grounded theory approach was used to analyze the data.ResultsAs healthcare providers interviewed were instrumental in COVID-19 vaccine rollout among pregnant women in Kenya, they provided lessons learned from the COVID-19 vaccine experience to inform future maternal RSV vaccine rollout. Community sensitization emerged as the most critical lesson learned, including communication, mobilization, and education. Using communication to ensure community awareness of RSV, community awareness of RSV harms and benefits of RSV maternal vaccines, and providing up-to-date, clear information about maternal RSV vaccines emerged as lessons. Related to mobilization, participants identified the need for healthcare providers and community leaders to gain the trust of communities, and the importance of routinizing the vaccine. Finally, for education, participants outlined critical questions patients would have about a maternal RSV vaccine, including those related to vaccine safety concerns, duration of protection, and vaccine dosing.ConclusionsThis is one of the first studies that has examined how lessons learned from the COVID-19 vaccine rollout for pregnant and lactating women can inform the rollout of future maternal vaccines, including an RSV maternal vaccine. As healthcare providers are directly involved in vaccine rollout, their perspectives are crucial for successful vaccine acceptance.

Antibiotic usage within cesarean section procedures in resourced-limited Kenya: A study of 23 facilities

Introduction: In Kenyan cesarean sections (CS), antibiotics play a crucial role in preventing surgical site infections. In Kenya, where maternal health care is a pivotal public health concern, understanding the efficacy and appropriateness of antibiotic prophylaxis in CS is crucial. This study seeks to address this gap by understanding antibiotic prophylaxis practices and the classes of antibiotics utilized for prophylaxis during CS in Kenya. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey on infection prevention and control (IPC) practices by adapting the World Health Organization (WHO) IPC assessment framework. One component of this survey included questions on antibiotic prophylaxis for CS. Purposive sampling was used to identify 23 hospitals across seven districts in Kenya that provided CS. Results: All 23 facilities used a form of systemic antibiotic prophylaxis. Preoperative systemic antibiotic prophylaxis was used by 78.2%, and postoperative prophylaxis was universal. The mean duration of postoperative antibiotic prophylaxis was 3.87 days. Ceftriaxone (91.3%), metronidazole (82.6%), and gentamicin (26.1%) were the most common systemic antibiotics. In addition, 91.3% administered oral antibiotics postoperatively, with a mean duration of 5.6 days. Predominant oral antibiotics included metronidazole (82.6%), amoxicillin–clavulanate (60.9%), and ceftriaxone (13.0%). Conclusion: The antibiotic practices utilized within the Kenya setting do not follow either the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) or WHO recommendations. Both organizations recommend pre-CS administration of a first-generation cephalosporin 60 min before incision. This class of antibiotics is not used at any of the study sites. In addition, all of the study sites provide postantibiotic prophylaxis, which is not recommended by either ACOG or WHO for prophylaxis.

“Instead of Asking for Fare, You Ask Her to Pay with Sex”: Male Perspectives on the Factors Influencing Schoolgirls’ Participation in Age-Disparate Transactional Sex Relationships

Age-disparate transactional sex relationships are often coerced and exploitative. The gender and economic disparities between affluent men and economically disadvantaged girls often perpetuate these relationships, resulting in their exploitation. This qualitative study assessed men’s understanding of factors influencing schoolgirls’ engagement in age-disparate transactional sex relationships in two rural districts in Kenya. Four focus group sessions were conducted with men from two primary professions: motorcycle taxi operators (Boda Boda) and teachers from primary and secondary schools from two districts in Kitui South, Sub County, Kenya. Focus group data were analyzed using conventional content analysis. Several influential factors associated with schoolgirls’ engagement in these transactional relationships are discussed in three broad themes: access and coercion, parental influence, and peer-related factors. Study results indicate that schoolgirls in rural areas are more susceptible to predation by men willing to trade sexual favors with underage girls. These findings make it imperative to address the predation of adolescent girls by men involved in these transactional relationships by implementing comprehensive sex education programs that empower schoolgirls to recognize and resist coercion. Additionally, implementing measures involving community leaders, parents, and other stakeholders in a collective effort to combat the exploitation of underage girls is paramount. These measures should be accompanied by the stricter enforcement of laws and regulations to hold perpetrators accountable for their actions.

Preferences of Patients and Providers in High-Burden Malaria Settings for Long-Acting Malaria Chemoprevention.

Antimalarial medications are recommended for chemoprevention as part of malaria control programs to decrease the morbidity and mortality related to more than 200 million infections each year. We sought to evaluate patient and provider acceptability of malaria chemoprevention in a long-acting formulation. We administered questionnaires to patients and providers in malaria endemic districts in Kenya and Zambia. Questions explored preferences and concerns around long-acting antimalarial formulations compared with oral formulations. We recruited 202 patient respondents (Kenya, n = 102; Zambia, n = 100) and 215 provider respondents (Kenya, n = 105; Zambia, n = 110). Long-acting injection was preferred to oral pills, whereas oral pills were preferred to implant or transdermal administration by patient respondents. Of 202 patient respondents, 80% indicated that they 'definitely would try' malaria chemoprevention offered by injection instead of oral pills. Of parents or guardians, 84% of 113 responded that they 'definitely would' have their child age <12 years and 90% of 88 'definitely would' have their child ≥12 years receive an injection for malaria prevention. Provider respondents indicated that they would be more likely to prescribe a long-acting injectable product compared with an oral product for malaria chemoprevention in adults (70%), adolescents ages 12 years and older (67%), and children <12 years (81%). Potential for prolonged adverse effects with long-acting products was the highest concern for patient respondents, while higher medication-related cost was cited as the most concerning barrier to implementation by providers. Overall, these findings indicate enthusiasm for the development of long-acting injectable antimalarials to provide individual delivery method options across age groups.

Analysing the factors that influence social media adoption among SMEs in developing countries

Social media penetration is on the rise in developing countries and is an important channel of growth for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Many SMEs in developing countries use social media to connect their customers to their products and services. However, the factors that have led the existing SMEs in Africa to adopt or reject social media need to be clarified to understand the key contributing factors and influences at play. This paper adopts the learning-by-doing concept from economic theory to explore the factors that influence the adoption of social media. A primary survey follows this to examine the use of social media among firms in the commercial districts of Kenya and Nigeria. The preliminary surveys in both countries were combined into a single dataset to analyse the relationship between social media use and learning-by-doing.The results show that while small SMEs are limited in their social media capacity, medium size firms tend to invest in their social media presence, and larger-size firms still rely on traditional marketing channels.

Rift Valley fever (RVF): a re-emerging zoonotic disease, pathogenesis, epidemiology, current status, and future perspective - correspondence.

Rift Valley fever (RVF): a re-emerging zoonotic disease, pathogenesis, epidemiology, current status, and future perspective - correspondence.

Threats to the Survival of Tiriki Sacred Groves in Kenya: A Cultural Perspective

A study was conducted in Hamisi district of Kenya between March and May 2020 to identify not only the drivers of cultural change among local people around the Tiriki sacred groves but also how changes in their culture have impacted on their interactions with the groves and the remedial measures needed to ensure sustainable conservation of the special forests. Study methods involved participatory observation, household interviews and discussions with key informants. Geographically stratified area sampling ensured all areas with sacred groves were covered. Observed desecration of the groves was associated with changes in people’s cultural links with them. Major drivers of cultural change included modern religion, rural poverty, modern education and modern lifestyle. Local people’s culture alone can no longer secure a future for the groves and popular opinion supports public-private partnerships to ensure their effective protection. Opportunity for involving local people in preservation of the groves through education exists. Keywords : culture, Kenya, sacred, tiriki, groves DOI: 10.7176/JCSD/69-05 Publication date: February 28 th 2023

Spatial variation and inequities in antenatal care coverage in Kenya, Uganda and mainland Tanzania using model-based geostatistics: a socioeconomic and geographical accessibility lens

BackgroundPregnant women in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) experience the highest levels of maternal mortality and stillbirths due to predominantly avoidable causes. Antenatal care (ANC) can prevent, detect, alleviate, or manage these causes. While eight ANC contacts are now recommended, coverage of the previous minimum of four visits (ANC4+) remains low and inequitable in SSA.MethodsWe modelled ANC4+ coverage and likelihood of attaining district-level target coverage of 70% across three equity stratifiers (household wealth, maternal education, and travel time to the nearest health facility) based on data from malaria indicator surveys in Kenya (2020), Uganda (2018/19) and Tanzania (2017). Geostatistical models were fitted to predict ANC4+ coverage and compute exceedance probability for target coverage. The number of pregnant women without ANC4+ were computed. Prediction was at 3 km spatial resolution and aggregated at national and district -level for sub-national planning.ResultsAbout six in ten women reported ANC4+ visits, meaning that approximately 3 million women in the three countries had <ANC4+ visits. The majority of the 366 districts in the three countries had ANC4+ coverage of 50–70%. In Kenya, 13% of districts had < 70% coverage, compared to 10% and 27% of the districts in Uganda and mainland Tanzania, respectively. Only one district in Kenya and ten districts in mainland Tanzania were likely met the target coverage. Six percent, 38%, and 50% of the districts had at most 5000 women with <ANC4+ visits in Kenya, Uganda, and mainland Tanzania, respectively, while districts with > 20,000 women having <ANC4+ visits were 38%, 1% and 1%, respectively. In many districts, ANC4+ coverage and likelihood of attaining the target coverage was lower among the poor, uneducated and those geographically marginalized from healthcare.ConclusionsThese findings will be invaluable to policymakers for annual appropriations of resources as part of efforts to reduce maternal deaths and stillbirths.

Joint spatio-temporal modelling of adverse pregnancy outcomes sharing common risk factors at sub-county level in Kenya, 2016\u20132019

BackgroundAdverse pregnancy outcomes jointly account for a high proportion of mortality and morbidity among pregnant women and their infants. Furthermore, the burden attributed to adverse pregnancy outcomes remains high and inadequately characterised due to the intricate interplay of its etiology and shared set of important risk factors. This study sought to quantify and map the underlying risk of multiple adverse pregnancy outcomes in Kenya at sub-county level using a shared component space-time modelling framework.MethodsReported sub-county level adverse pregnancy outcomes count from January 2016 – December 2019 were obtained from the Kenyan District Health Information System. A Bayesian hierarchical spatio-temporal model was used to estimate the joint burden of adverse pregnancy outcomes in space (sub-county) and time (year). To improve the precision of our estimates over time and space, information across the outcomes were combined via the shared and the outcome-specific components using a shared component model with spatio-temporal interactions.ResultsOverall, the total number of adverse outcomes in pregnancy increased by 14.2% (95% UI: 14.0–14.5) from 88,816 cases in 2016 to 101,455 cases in 2019. Between 2016 and 2019, the estimated low birth weight rate and the pre-term birth rate were 4.5 (95% UI: 4.4–4.7) and 2.3 (95% UI: 2.2–2.5) per 100 live births. The stillbirth and neonatal death rates were estimated to be 18.7 (95% UI: 18.0–19.4) and 6.9 (95% UI: 6.4–7.4) per 1000 live births. The magnitude of the spatio-temporal variation attributed to shared risk was high for pre-term births, low birth weight, neonatal deaths, stillbirths and neonatal deaths, respectively. The shared risk patterns were dominant in sub-counties located along the Indian ocean coastline, central and western Kenya.ConclusionsThis study demonstrates the usefulness of a Bayesian joint spatio-temporal shared component model in exploiting specific and shared risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes sub-nationally. By identifying sub-counties with elevated risks and data gaps, our estimates not only assert the need for bolstering maternal health programs in the identified high-risk sub-counties but also provides a baseline against which to assess the progress towards the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals.

Treatment of maternal depression in low‐income women: A feasibility study from Kilifi, Kenya

To test the feasibility and acceptability of a group psychosocial intervention called Learning Through Play (LTP) plus Culturally adapted Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CaCBT) for depressed Kenyan mothers with children aged 0-36months. This study was a single-arm mixed methods feasibility study to test an integrated parenting intervention for postnatal depression in a low-income rural area of Fumbini village in Kilifi District of Kenya. Women between the ages of 18 and 45years with children up to 3years were screened for depression using the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). Those scoring above 10 on PHQ-9 were interviewed using the Revised Clinical Interview Schedule (CIS-R) to confirm the diagnosis of depression. Assessments were carried out at baseline and at the end of the intervention (3months), followed by qualitative interviews with 12 women. Qualitative interviews were analysed using thematic analysis from a socio-constructionist theoretical lens. The LTP Plus was both feasible and acceptable with high satisfaction among the participants. Qualitative results showed that the women perceived the intervention as beneficial in reducing the symptoms of depression, coping with stress and negative emotions. The results also indicated a reduction in scores on PHQ-9, GAD-7 with an increase in perceived social support, health-related quality of life and an improvement in mothers' knowledge about child development at the end of the intervention. This study represents the first feasibility research on integrated parenting intervention in Kenya. The results indicated that culturally adapted LTP plus CaCBT is feasible and acceptable in a low-income setting of Kenya. There is now a need to study the clinical and cost-effectiveness of LTP plus CaCBT in an appropriately powered larger randomised control trial, with a longer follow-up period.

Effect of Credit Financing on Financial Performance of Small and Medium Enterprises in Nairobi Central Business District, Kenya

The purpose of the study was to establish the effect of credit financing on financial performance of SMEs in Nairobi Central Business District, Kenya. The specific objectives of the study were to: establish the effect of access to credit on financial performance of SMEs, to determine the effect of vested interest on SMEs, assess the effect of credit history on SMEs and distinguish the effect of credit worthiness on SMEs in Nairobi Central Business District Kenya. The study was anchored on Credit Rationing Theory, Information Asymmetry Theory and Financial Intermediation Theory. The study used stratified random design. The target population of this study comprised of 1,842 registered Small and Medium Enterprises licensed in Nairobi Central Business District. The study used a sample size of 184 SMEs. The study adopted primary data collection by interviewing the top owners or top managers, from the Small and Medium Enterprises by making use of structured questionnaire. Collected data was analysed through descriptive and inferential statistics with the aid of SPSS software. The analysis findings were presented on tables, charts and bars. The study findings revealed that access to credit had a positive and significant effect on the financial performance (? =.123, p=.031&lt;.05), vested interest had a positive but insignificant effect on the financial performance of SMEs (? =.056, p=.391&gt;.05), credit history had a positive and significant effect on the financial performance of SMEs (? =.416, p=.000&lt;.05) and finally the findings revealed that credit worthiness had a positive and significant effect on the financial performance of SMEs (? =.405, p=.000&lt;.05). The study concluded that access to credit is the lifeblood of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as they evolve into profitable and sustainable businesses over the years. It was thus recommended that managers of SMEs operating in Nairobi City County CBD should strive to improve their ability to access credit, improve their vested interest, credit history and improve their credit worthiness. Keywords: Access to Credit, Financial Performance, Vested Interest, Credit History, Credit Worthiness, SMEs, Nairobi Central Business District

Marine reserve more sustainable than gear restriction in maintaining long-term coral reef fisheries yields

The long-term consequences of managing overfished fisheries through either gear restrictions or closures are among the many dilemmas facing small-scale fisheries managers. To evaluate long-term outcomes, fishing effort and catch were measured from 1995 to 2019 in two districts in Kenya, one that established a marine reserve in 1991 and another that eliminated destructive small-meshed drag nets beginning in 2001. Stock biomass in the 12 studied landing sites were below multispecies maximum sustainable yield (MMSY) and effort declined in all sites, indicating overfishing. Both interventions showed positive responses in catch per unit effort (CPUE) trends that indicated successful management but the changes were more sustained in the closure-adjacent than the gear-restricted landing sites. For example, total per-area yields in the gear-restricted sites declined steadily to an equilibrium that was 30% below the predicted MMSY. In contrast, and despite the low stock levels, closure-adjacent landing sites maintained yields near MMSY over the full time series. This is likely due to an increase in fish recovery rates by ~42% from an r of 0.23 to an r of 0.34 in the presence of a closure. The study suggests that closures that occupy ~30% of the nearshore fishing grounds could prevent suboptimal yields and fisheries collapse in nearshore East African reefs.

Epidemic Malaria Dynamics in Eastern Africa Highlands: The Role of Climate Change and Human Population Growth

During the last two decades, researchers have suggested that the increase of the malaria incidence rate in tea plantations in the Kericho district in Kenya was driven by climate change. Critics suggested that others variables could be involved in the increase of the malaria burden, such as HIV and human population size. Population ecologists have developed a simple framework which helps to explore the contributions of endogenous (density-dependency) and exogenous processes on population dynamics. Both processes may operate to determine the dynamic behavior of a particular population through time. Briefly, density-dependency (endogenous process) occurs when the per capita population growth rate (R) is determined by its previous population sizes. An exogenous process occurs when some variable affects another but is not affected by the changes it causes. In this study we re-explore the dynamics of the malaria incidence rate in Kericho tea plantations taking into account the HIV incidence rate, rural population size, temperature and rainfall. We found that malaria dynamics showed signs of a negative endogenous process between R and malaria infectious class. We found that there was weak evidence to support the climate change hypothesis and that rural population size and the HIV incidence could interact to positively force malaria models parameters explaining the positive malaria trend observed at Kericho tea plantations in Kenya from 1979 to 2002.

Mapping of anaemia prevalence among pregnant women in Kenya (2016\u20132019)

BackgroundReducing the burden of anaemia is a critical global health priority that could improve maternal outcomes amongst pregnant women and their neonates. As more counties in Kenya commit to universal health coverage, there is a growing need for optimal allocation of the limited resources to sustain the gains achieved with the devolution of healthcare services. This study aimed to describe the spatio-temporal patterns of maternal anaemia prevalence in Kenya from 2016 to 2019.MethodsQuarterly reported sub-county level maternal anaemia cases from January 2016 – December 2019 were obtained from the Kenyan District Health Information System. A Bayesian hierarchical negative binomial spatio-temporal conditional autoregressive (CAR) model was used to estimate maternal anaemia prevalence by sub-county and quarter. Spatial and temporal correlations were considered by assuming a conditional autoregressive and a first-order autoregressive process on sub-county and seasonal specific random effects, respectively.ResultsThe overall estimated number of pregnant women with anaemia increased by 90.1% (95% uncertainty interval [95% UI], 89.9–90.2) from 155,539 cases in 2016 to 295,642 cases 2019. Based on the WHO classification criteria, the proportion of sub-counties with normal prevalence decreased from 28.0% (95% UI, 25.4–30.7) in 2016 to 5.4% (95% UI, 4.1–6.7) in 2019, whereas moderate anaemia prevalence increased from 16.8% (95% UI, 14.7–19.1) in 2016 to 30.1% (95% UI, 27.5–32.8) in 2019 and severe anaemia prevalence increased from 7.0% (95% UI, 5.6–8.6) in 2016 to 16.6% (95% UI, 14.5–18.9) in 2019. Overall, 45.1% (95% UI: 45.0–45.2) of the estimated cases were in malaria-endemic sub-counties, with the coastal endemic zone having the highest proportion 72.8% (95% UI: 68.3–77.4) of sub-counties with severe prevalence.ConclusionAs the number of women of reproductive age continues to grow in Kenya, the use of routinely collected data for accurate mapping of poor maternal outcomes remains an integral component of a functional maternal health strategy. By unmasking the sub-county disparities often concealed by national and county estimates, our study findings reiterate the importance of maternal anaemia prevalence as a metric for estimating malaria burden and offers compelling policy implications for achieving national nutritional targets.

'Do you trust those data?'-a mixed-methods study assessing the quality of data reported by community health workers in Kenya and Malawi.

High-quality data are essential to monitor and evaluate community health worker (CHW) programmes in low- and middle-income countries striving towards universal health coverage. This mixed-methods study was conducted in two purposively selected districts in Kenya (where volunteers collect data) and two in Malawi (where health surveillance assistants are a paid cadre). We calculated data verification ratios to quantify reporting consistency for selected health indicators over 3 months across 339 registers and 72 summary reports. These indicators are related to antenatal care, skilled delivery, immunization, growth monitoring and nutrition in Kenya; new cases, danger signs, drug stock-outs and under-five mortality in Malawi. We used qualitative methods to explore perceptions of data quality with 52 CHWs in Kenya, 83 CHWs in Malawi and 36 key informants. We analysed these data using a framework approach assisted by NVivo11. We found that only 15% of data were reported consistently between CHWs and their supervisors in both contexts. We found remarkable similarities in our qualitative data in Kenya and Malawi. Barriers to data quality mirrored those previously reported elsewhere including unavailability of data collection and reporting tools; inadequate training and supervision; lack of quality control mechanisms; and inadequate register completion. In addition, we found that CHWs experienced tensions at the interface between the formal health system and the communities they served, mediated by the social and cultural expectations of their role. These issues affected data quality in both contexts with reports of difficulties in negotiating gender norms leading to skipping sensitive questions when completing registers; fabrication of data; lack of trust in the data; and limited use of data for decision-making. While routine systems need strengthening, these more nuanced issues also need addressing. This is backed up by our finding of the high value placed on supportive supervision as an enabler of data quality.

Predicting Abundances of Aedes mcintoshi, a primary Rift Valley fever virus mosquito vector.

Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) is a mosquito-borne zoonotic arbovirus with important livestock and human health, and economic consequences across Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. Climate and vegetation monitoring guide RVFV forecasting models and early warning systems; however, these approaches make monthly predictions and a need exists to predict primary vector abundances at finer temporal scales. In Kenya, an important primary RVFV vector is the mosquito Aedes mcintoshi. We used a zero-inflated negative binomial regression and multimodel averaging approach with georeferenced Ae. mcintoshi mosquito counts and remotely sensed climate and topographic variables to predict where and when abundances would be high in Kenya and western Somalia. The data supported a positive effect on abundance of minimum wetness index values within 500 m of a sampling site, cumulative precipitation values 0 to 14 days prior to sampling, and elevated land surface temperature values ~3 weeks prior to sampling. The probability of structural zero counts of mosquitoes increased as percentage clay in the soil decreased. Weekly retrospective predictions for unsampled locations across the study area between 1 September and 25 January from 2002 to 2016 predicted high abundances prior to RVFV outbreaks in multiple foci during the 2006–2007 epizootic, except for two districts in Kenya. Additionally, model predictions supported the possibility of high Ae. mcintoshi abundances in Somalia, independent of Kenya. Model-predicted abundances were low during the 2015–2016 period when documented outbreaks did not occur, although several surveillance systems issued warnings. Model predictions prior to the 2018 RVFV outbreak indicated elevated abundances in Wajir County, Kenya, along the border with Somalia, but RVFV activity occurred west of the focus of predicted high Ae. mcintoshi abundances.

AN ASSESSMENT OF THE VARIOUS MITIGATION STRATEGIES TO COMBAT DESERTIFICATION IN JIBIA AND KAITA LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREAS OF KATSINA STATE

AN ASSESSMENT OF THE VARIOUS MITIGATION STRATEGIES TO COMBAT DESERTIFICATION IN JIBIA AND KAITA LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREAS OF KATSINA STATE