Evaluation of a Climate-Sensitive Disease Control Strategy and Investigation of Multi-drug Resistance in Infectious Bacterial Diseases: A US-Africa Experience

Abstract

This paper presents two research projects that explore avenues of controlling infectious diseases both in Africa and the United States. In Uganda, a retrospective study of Otuboi Sub County patient data to evaluate the impact of Stamp Out Sleeping sickness (SOS) intervention was performed. Polymerase Chain Reaction to detect the conjugatively transferred virulence factors from MDR E. coli to Salmonella was performed in North Dakota. Human African Trypanosomiasis prevalence was significantly reduced at intervention year (2006) compared to the pre-intervention years; 2004 (P = 0.00024) and 2005 (P = 0.000001). Of the 22 screened virulence factor genes, eight genes were PCR detected in MDR E. coli 2077 isolate. Six of the detected genes were found to be received by Salmonella transconjugates. The protective effect of SOS intervention was sustained for only two years (2007 and 2008) post intervention. MDR E.coli 2077 isolate conjugatively transferred its virulence factors to Salmonella strains.